


Spider 00

by VeryBoredAnon



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:07:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24911326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeryBoredAnon/pseuds/VeryBoredAnon
Summary: During a lull before a heist, Chrollo finds an interesting child, whose scarlet eyes he really wants his Spiders to see.
Relationships: Genei Ryodan | Phantom Troupe & Kurapika
Comments: 46
Kudos: 83





	1. The Father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The story's set five years before the canon timeline, which means this features Chrollo without a tattooed forehead. I imagine Machi, Paku, Feitan, Franklin, Nobunaga and Uvo to look like how they did in the flashback. Phinks and Shal look like how Phantom Rouge depicted them.

At some point in the late afternoon, in the middle of a nondescript town, Chrollo Lucilfer was looking out a window. This window was connected to the room Chrollo shared with his comrades, Machi and Pakunoda. The room was meant for a single lodger, but the three did not mind. Only one person had luggage, and it was in a puny rucksack.

Anyway, Pakunoda had brought the three coffee. Chrollo opted to enjoy his while reading a book by the window. However, as he was about to pick up the thick, yellowed book he left on the ledge, Chrollo witnessed a snatch theft.

A pudgy-faced, thirty-something-year-old man had stolen a sling bag after slashing its strap loose of its owner. Chrollo's gaze focused on the victim. A golden-haired preteen layered in baggy blue clothing gawked at the thief. The next moment, he (she?) leapt forward, wove through the crowd, and placed himself in front of the thief.

"Ooh, he's fast," Chrollo remarked at a volume meant for just his ears.

Since the window was shut, it was a mystery what the preteen said to the thief. The former was speaking with a calm expression and his hands reaching out to the latter. Perhaps he was asking the thief to return his bag, which happened. The thief shoved the bag into the preteen's hands and dove into an adjacent alley. The preteen stayed in place, rummaging his bag.

"Is everything there?" Chrollo wondered aloud. "Nope," he answered when the preteen stiffened.

Then, the preteen showed his face, and it was Chrollo's turn to stiffen. Almost hidden by blond bangs were a pair of glaring red orbs. Chrollo only saw them for a split second, because after that, the preteen had dashed into that adjacent alley. He moved so fast, the nearest pedestrians did double-takes.

"Danchou, where're you going?" Machi called out to Chrollo.

The latter had opened the window. One foot was already on the ledge. Chrollo answered Machi without facing her.

"To see what'll happen. I'll be back before the exhibition."

Chrollo bounced onto the awning outside and skidded to the bottom before hopping to the opposite roof. From the lowermost tiles, he scanned the alley for that preteen. He found him after rounding a corner. For a closer view, Chrollo quietly landed atop a fire escape staircase.

In the dark, dank alley, the preteen encountered three adult men, one of whom was the thief. Chrollo ignored the men because he can easily imagine the thuggish grins they must be giving the preteen they were looming over. His eyes narrowed on the preteen, whose eyes were currently a typical shade of brown.

"You've either got guts or nothing in your noggin, kid," said the thief. The other men nodded in agreement.

"Please return my friend's medical records," said the preteen in a tone that sounded level to most people, but to Chrollo, was laden with tranquil fury.

"I haven't got your wallet--wait, _medical records?_ "

"That pack of paper you stole from me wasn't money. They were my friend's medical records."

The thief stuck a hand into his trouser pocket and took out a small, thick envelope. Even from afar, Chrollo could tell that envelope's width was much smaller than a Jenny bill. The thief opened the envelope and checked its contents.

"It ain't Jennies," he concluded, earning himself a slap to the back of his head from his two cohorts.

"They aren't," said the preteen, "so _please_ return them to me."

The thief sighed irritably. "Alright." He held out the envelope towards the preteen's outstretched hand.

"It's a trap," Chrollo mumbled, before the thief spilled the envelope's contents all over the preteen, causing him to freeze up in shock and get kicked down. One of the thief's cohorts grabbed the preteen's bag. Then, the three bolted. "Told you so."

The preteen sat up sluggishly. His head was bowed over the papers, which were scattered all over the alley's dirty path. Some sheets had landed in puddles. The preteen gazed at the papers for a moment, turned to the escaping thieves in the next, and moved. Chrollo watched him bounce from wall to wall until he was soaring above the thieves. When the preteen landed, it was atop the man who took his bag, and he did not just land. He _stomped_ , too.

The man howled as a loud crunch sounded from his body. He fell to the ground, blubbering, "My shoulders!"

The other two squealed in fear. They whipped out their switchblades, shakily pointing them at the preteen. The latter did not regard them. Instead, he simply ambled to his bag, not to retrieve it though, but actually to retrieve _something_ from it. That something was a pair of wooden blades bound together by a cord. Then, he finally regarded the remaining men, who trembled harder upon receiving his attention.

A little smile grew across Chrollo's face as the preteen bounced from the walls again to beat the men from every angle. The men were too weak to perceive his movements. Chrollo was not. He could see skill in the way the preteen swung those wooden swords, prompting him to whistle in amazement.

"Hey, you..."

Chrollo looked down. The man whose shoulders were crushed by the preteen was standing near the fire escape Chrollo was perched on. His posture was markedly crooked, and it appeared to be the only way he could stand.

"Help... _please_..." the man rasped.

Chrollo did not reply. He simply focused on the preteen leaping towards the unsuspecting man. He whipped his swords, causing one blade to smash into the man's neck and snap it. The man fell to the ground again, this time without blubbering, although the preteen still landed on his back.

"Look at me," Chrollo commanded, albeit quietly. His breath hitched when the preteen actually faced him.

In the dark, dank alley, the preteen's eyes shone like a pair of red dwarfs in the cosmos, and Chrollo could see, despite being three floors away, the irises pulsate. A moment after eye contact was established, Chrollo descended from the fire escape staircase. He touched down lightly, in front of the preteen, who quickly took up a defensive stance, holding the blades parallel to his body with the sharper edges towards Chrollo.

Upon closer inspection, the baggy blue clothing the preteen was wearing were more accurately a thick navy blue shawl and dress lined with gold, layered over long white sleeves and pants. Chrollo also notice the preteen's eyes were gradually dulling. In a matter of seconds, they were back to brown.

"Those are some interesting eyes you have," said Chrollo.

The preteen flinched. His stance changed. One blade was now pointed at Chrollo.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

The blade remained pointed at him, and followed him as he slowly knelt to the ground. The preteen flinched again when Chrollo began picking up the papers, specifically the ones in puddles.

"This is quality paper," Chrollo remarked. "Even though it's wet, it's still fairly stiff. And the ink's waterproof, so the message is unaffected."

"Oh," said the preteen. The was a slight stutter as he glanced at the body he was standing on.

"Feeling guilty?" Chrollo asked, and when the preteen nodded slightly, he said, "Don't. They shouldn't have stolen from you in the first place."

The preteen's eyes widened. "You don't think I did anything wrong?"

"No."

"You don't...think I'm a demon?"

Chrollo smiled. "Not at all."

The preteen exhaled shakily. At the same time, a smile formed on his lips. His stance changed. Now, the blades were clasped together between jittery hands. The preteen's eyes flitted about, gazing at (in that particular order) Chrollo, the papers in his hand, the papers on the ground, his damaged bag, and then the wet papers again.

"Earlier," Chrollo began, regaining the preteen's attention, "I said this was quality paper." He flapped the damp squares in his hand. "But that obviously doesn't mean it's okay for it to stay wet. Would you like to come--"

"Yes, yes I'll come with you!" the preteen interrupted.

Chrollo blinked once, his brow furrowing afterwards. "I, I wasn't done. Talking."

The preteen's face reddened. "Right, sorry." His gaze fell. "I don't often meet people as accepting as you," he mumbled, before speaking normally, "Please, continue."

Chrollo cleared his throat. "Would you like to come to my lodging? You can use the hairdryer there, and I also know a friend who can patch up your bag. She's at the lodging too."

The preteen fixed his gaze on Chrollo again. "Yes, I _would_ like to. Thank you very much, uh..."

"Chrollo. And you?"

The preteen beamed. "I'm Kurapika!" He held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Chrollo!"

Chrollo grasped the smaller hand with a smile. "Hello, Kurapika. It's nice to meet you too. Now, let's get these dried, shall we?" He raised the hand that was carrying the papers.

Kurapika's eyes bugged out when he noticed there were both wet and dry sheets between Chrollo's fingers. He then looked at the ground, which was now devoid of paper. He looked at Chrollo again.

With a playful grin, the latter said, "Follow me."

Chrollo stood up and hopped all the way to the top of the fire escape staircase. To the untrained eye, it would appear that Chrollo suddenly disappeared in the middle of unbending his knees.

Chrollo leaned against the railing. "I'm waiting," he called out in a singsong voice, hinting his current location to the dumbfounded Kurapika.

When Kurapika finally looked up, he saw Chrollo cordially waving his papers at him, and responded with a gleeful smirk. He ambled to his bag, stuffing his wooden swords into it. After that, Kurapika prepared to scale the fire escape staircase. In the meantime, Chrollo started a phone call with Pakunoda.

"Paku, it's me. I'm on the way back with someone."

_"Oh? And who is this 'someone', Danchou?"_

A pause to check on Kurapika, whose hop could barely bring him further than the first landing. He reached the second landing with the help of his sling bag, by whipping the slashed strap around a bar in the railing. For one moment, he was just dangling. In the next, he kicked the bottom of landing to swing himself atop the railing.

"Smart kid," Chrollo commented.

_"A new recruit?"_

"Possibly, after I ascertain some things."

Kurapika bounced from that railing to the rooftop. The latter then looked over the edge with a flustered expression. The former gave him a thumbs-up before joining him on the roof in another hop.

_"Will they be joining us this evening?"_

Chrollo's eyes narrowed and his grin crept up a little higher. "Oh, _definitely_."

He guided Kurapika to the direction of the main road and pointed at the aluminium awning on the opposite side. In the window Chrollo had exited from, Machi stood with a cup in hand. Her firm, albeit bored, squint relaxed marginally upon sighting Chrollo. Then, she saw Kurapika and her squint hardened again.

 _"Aw, it's a new friend for Shalnark!"_ said Pakunoda, after appearing in the window behind Machi.

"That's one way to put it," replied Chrollo. "I'm hanging up." He pocketed his smartphone and turned to Kurapika. "Let's go see my friends."

This time, Chrollo's leap was slow. Anyone who was paying attention should see his standing form sail through the air, but nobody would hear him planting his feet on the awning over the hubbub of pedestrians in the main road. The same could be said for Kurapika, although he did not land as far as Chrollo. After patting his skirt flat, the former followed the latter through the window.

"Pardon my intrusion," Kurapika said to Pakunoda and Machi as he stepped onto the window ledge.

Pakunoda smiled. "It's fine. We were expecting you."

"His bag needs patching up," Chrollo told Machi, who was closing the curtains now that everyone was inside.

" _Please?_ " Kurapika added, holding up his bag at her, its slashed strap hanging limply.

Machi wordlessly accepted the bag and walked to another part of the room to begin the stitching process. Meanwhile, Chrollo was showing Pakunoda the papers.

"Would you mind using the hairdryer on this?" he requested.

Pakunoda reached for the papers, her fingers brushing Chrollo's as she did. "What happened to these?"

Chrollo smirked. "You know."

Pakunoda smirked back. "I know."

Kurapika observed the conversation silently, his eyes darting side to side. His lips twitched with stifled curiosity, and he scrunched up his skirt's hem. He jolted when Pakunoda spoke to him.

"Drying will take a while. Why don't you play some Gungi in the meantime?"

"Uh, okay."

Pakunoda smiled at Kurapika and gently patted his head. "You're a good kid, aren't you?"

Kurapika chuckled shyly. "I try my best to be."

"Interesting response," said Pakunoda, before heading off to the bathroom.

During this later point in the afternoon, nobody in this room was idle. On a stool in one corner, Machi was reconnecting the the frayed ends of the severed bag strap, and behind the bathroom's closed doors, the muffled sound of a hairdryer in use can be heard, and at the center of the room, a Gungi board had been set.

"Have you played Gungi before?" asked Chrollo, while arranged the black pieces. He sat with a knee pointed upwards.

Kurapika nodded. He carried a box of white pieces on his lap and his eyes followed Chrollo's fingers. "I've played a few times, and I've read strategy books."

"Ah, just like me," Chrollo mumbled. Once he had decided the final piece's place, Kurapika began arranging his. "Is _that_ a strategy you learnt from a book?"

"No, I just figured it out after reading the rule book." Kurapika made his first move as soon as he was finished arranging. "Um, can I ask you something?"

"You already did, but do continue."

"Do you...know _who_ I am?"

Chrollo pushed a black piece forward. "A member of the Kurta clan, no?"

Kurapika exhaled. "I thought so," he whispered. "You wouldn't be so calm otherwise."

"Mm, I'd say there are more terrifying things in the world than a child whose eyes can turn red."

"What about a red-eyed child who can kill three grown men under a minute?"

"A rare sight, yes, but it's not particularly terrifying."

Kurapika raised an eyebrow. Then, he looked down, and sent a piece diagonally across the board. "You find the idea... _interesting_ , you mean?"

"I hear resentment."

"I've read about how valuable my clan's eyes are. Honestly, the idea of being hated and called a 'red-eyed demon' is displeasing, but meeting a flesh collector sounds _worse_."

"So, you'd rather your eyes be hated than loved." Chrollo slid a piece lengthwise. "You seemed quite happy to meet me, though."

Kurapika captured that piece. "You're different. If you know of my clan, then you must know the conditions that make our eyes red. If you wanted my eyes, then you wouldn't have tried calming me, and instead tried to anger me further."

"That's a reasonable thought process, albeit flawed."

"Flawed how?"

"You've explained how I couldn't want to _hurt_ you, but you haven't considered why I would want to _help_ you."

Kurapika looked at Chrollo with his head tilted slightly. "Yes, I have. You're helping out of kindness, aren't you?"

Chrollo smirked. "I see you haven't been scammed yet."

Kurapika frowned. He rescinded a white piece and stacked it onto another one, which was currently cornered by a black piece. "Are _you_ scamming me, Chrollo?"

Chrollo moved that black piece out of the stacked whites' range. "I'm not. I just wanted to warn you that it's not always a good idea to follow a stranger."

"Unless you can prove the stranger's not a bad guy," Kurapika countered, in conversation and on the board. The piece Chrollo moved was confiscated.

Chrollo retaliated, taking the previous piece and reentering Kurapika's territory. "Mm, true. In that case, you shouldn't have any qualms following me a little longer, am I wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"This evening, an art exhibition is going to be held in the town museum. My friends and I are going. If your schedule's free, how about joining us?"

"I don't mind." Kurapika mimicked Chrollo's latest move. "But why do you want me to follow?"

"To make full use of the tickets. Basically, anyone who buys the ticket gets the privilege of inviting one more person, free-of-charge. I'm going with my two friends here, so I got two tickets. If a fourth person comes, I'll feel less like I've wasted money."

"I see."

"So, you'll come?"

"Yeah, why not? I've never been to an exhibition before. Oh, and by the way, check."

Chrollo's eyes narrowed on his black Commander piece. It was directly in line with the stacked white pieces, and if he were to move the Commander, the white piece Kurapika moved recently would caused a checkmate.

Smiling, Chrollo said, "I concede."

A needle clattered on the wood-paneled floor. Chrollo and Kurapika looked at Machi, who appeared to be pinching the air.

"I'm done," she said, showing the whole bag strap.

"Me too," said Pakunoda, coming out of the bathroom. She knelt beside Kurapika, putting in his hands a stack of paper cards. "If the information on these papers are important, you should make a copy." Then, she observed the Gungi board. "Danchou, are you _losing?_ "

Chrollo chuckled. "The game's already ended."

"Huh." Pakunoda turned to Kurapika. "You really _are_ a smart kid. What's your name?"

"I'm Kurapika!"

"Hello, Kurapika. I'm Pakunoda, and over there's Machi."

"Thank you, Machi!" said Kurapika, after Machi returned his bag.

"Don't mention it," Machi mumbled. "Danchou, the exhibition's happening in about an hour, and you haven't mentioned how we're getting to the museum. Are we taking a car or are we going on foot?"

"A car would be convenient considering the luggage when we leave," said Chrollo, "but this town has awful traffic. Yes, Kurapika?"

Kurapika had raised a hand in the air. "I have a solution to your dilemma."

Fifteen minutes later, Kurapika was retrieving an ostrich-sized dodo from the town's holding pen. On its back sat a backpack loaded with survival equipment and a large saddle. Kurapika patted the bird's huge beak affectionately as he introduced it to Chrollo and his friends.

"This is a Piko, my mode of transport when I travel. He's strong and fast, so he should be able to carry all four of us plus maybe another thirty kilograms of luggage and still run at about eighty kilometres per hour. If you tell me where the museum is, I can have the Piko take some off-road routes to get there."

The journey to the museum was as described: To fit everyone on the Piko's back, Kurapika sat on Chrollo's lap, Pakunoda sat behind the latter, and Machi had to stand behind the saddle and grip the backrest lest she fly off when the Piko started running. Kurapika took charge of the reins, driving the Piko in accordance to the directions given by Pakunoda, who was referring to a map. The chosen route were sturdy building roofs, lesser taken roads lacking obstacles, and finally the woodsy terrains surrounding the museum. This was where the Piko was parked.

"I realized I haven't asked," began Kurapika, as he and the rest entered the museum, "what sort of art is being exhibited here?"

"A collection of rare things," answered Chrollo, showing entry tickets to the receptionist, "merged into a single, beautiful sculpture."

"What sort of rare things?"

"Since we're already here, why don't you find out yourself?"

The four arrived at a pair of ornate double-doors, isolated by purple velvet ropes. Guests accumulated around them and at their backs until they exceeded the ropes' length. While monitoring the crowd's growth, Kurapika clung to the hem of Chrollo's shirt. Chrollo noticed, and kindly grasped the former's hand.

"The exhibition shall begin in a minute," announced a security guard beside the door. "Only fifteen guests may enter the room for an hour at a time. When the time limit comes, the guests inside must exit through the door at the end of the room. Do not dawdle. The guards inside will throw you out if need be. Don't try to sneak in either, _us_ guards outside will stop you, and you'll be fined. Now, fifteen guests may enter."

The double-doors swung inwards, revealing a darkened room. Kurapika's grip on Chrollo tightened as they, plus Machi, Pakunoda and eleven other guests walked inside. Then, the doors shut, plunging everyone into darkness, but only for a moment. A spotlight appeared at the center of the room, upon a hunchbacked elderly man swaddled in a grey silk robe.

"I am the artist of this exhibition," spoke the man with a hoarse voice. "Thank you for coming to see my magnum opus."

The spotlight widened exponentially, illuminating the entire room. Taking up almost a third of the room's space was a long, transparent block, supported by a similarly-sized metal stand. The block was shaped like a hollow square, minus one side. The man stood within that hollow area.

"For over forty years," he continued, "I have been searching for the most _vibrant_ treasures known to man to make my sculpture, and here they are, arranged to the colors of the rainbow, and preserved in formaldehyde." The man stepped away from his art. "Please, behold my creation."

Chrollo released Kurapika's hand. "I'll be at the purple part."

"But the rainbow starts with red," said Kurapika.

"Doesn't mean _I_ have to," replied Chrollo. He winked at Kurapika before walking ahead. Upon reaching the purple-colored end of the sculpture, Chrollo lowered his gaze.

Kurapika was standing next to him. "I'll start at purple too."

Chrollo smiled, and turned to the display.

The sculpture resembled an aquarium, with its cuboid shape and translucent form. In the part of the sculpture in front of Chrollo, there was a glittering purple geode, surrounded by other duller purple things. The purple surroundings occupied three feet of the sculpture before fading to indigo. For that section, it was a shiny-smooth fist-sized scarab that was the center of attention. This scarab was also surrounded by less shiny objects of the same hue.

"There's sapphires in here," said Kurapika, already at the blue section, "but they're at the sides."

"And what's in the center?" asked Chrollo.

"A pure blue rose, and it isn't shiny or glittering. Rather, it seems to absorb light from its surroundings. The sapphires look almost black in comparison."

Chrollo hummed in agreement, and they moved on to the greens.

"What a waste of food," Kurapika remarked while tracing the spiral pattern on the fluorescent green mango-shaped object within the formaldehyde.

"If you hadn't said that, I would've thought it was a moss-coated rock."

"I'm not surprised. This fruit comes from a forest that's incredibly difficult to find, and when the time comes for its skin and flesh to decompose, it glows really bright, and it can be brighter than _this_."

After that, it was the yellow section, which fulfilled the aquarium aesthetic by having a yellow fire shrimp for a core, gold ore for a seabed, and yellow pearls for bubbles.

Kurapika pointed at the shrimp. "I think this one's my favorite."

"Why?"

"It looks funny."

"How so?"

"There's sponge squares among the ore."

"Ah." Chrollo chuckled. "I get it."

Although the yellow section was amusing, Chrollo and Kurapika eventually left to see the orange section. Honeycomb was the attraction here, with little orange things acting like worker bees.

Kurapika squinted. "Those stripes were definitely drawn on."

"Don't like it?"

"It's like they're _forced_ to be duller than the honeycomb, instead of the honeycomb being naturally brighter. The artist cheated in this part."

Chrollo caressed his chin. "Really? I think the artist was being creative doing that."

Kurapika walked away, grumbling, "Mm. You can see it that way, I suppose."

Chrollo watched him leave. "Do you wish I didn't?"

No response. Chrollo can see why, and saw with narrowed eyes. Kurapika trembled subtly before the sculpture's red section. His eyes were opened so wide, they might as well fall out of the sockets, like the scarlet eyeball inside the formaldehyde block.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" said the man, the artist himself, in a hushed tone, beside Kurapika. "It's easily the most _eye_ -catching part of my art." He chuckled. "You and your friend were smart to see this last. Honestly, when I finally attained this eye, I thought to myself, 'I could die happy right now,' because not only was it beautiful, it's the only one left. The black market hasn't seen a fresh set of eyes in nearly a century, and the existing ones have rotted due to inadequate care. Earlier, I said I could die happy thanks to this one eyeball, but truthfully, I'd die happier if I could've gotten a pair--"

"Then _, **die**_."

In the blink of an eye, Kurapika was in the air and his leg was slamming against the artist's face. There was a resounding _crack!_ before the artist fell on his back, twitching as blood spurted out his nose.

"My...God..." the artist gasped. He lifted a shaky hand. "Your eyes...!"

He was gesturing at Kurapika, who was breathing heavily. His bangs were shrouding his eyes again, like golden bars caging a wild, red-eyed beast.

"They're...beautiful..." The artist strained to sit up. "Please... Give them to me... Let _your_ eyes be my art... They must... What a waste not to--"

Kurapika wrapped both his hands around the artist's neck. "Stop," he spoke in a deep voice, "talking about my eyes, my _clan's_ eyes. Stop talking like we aren't _people_. _**Stop**_."

His fingers sank into the flesh as if it was putty. The neck bent further back the more its bones were crushed, until the head flopped limply like a half-deflated balloon. Kurapika released the body, watched it fall to the ground, and continued to breathe heavily. Behind him, Chrollo chuckled.

"You really are... _interesting_."

Kurapika turned his head, throwing a scarlet one-eyed glare at Chrollo. Suddenly, his whole body turned as he threw himself at the latter, his wooden swords akimbo.

"You _knew!_ " Kurapika roared at Chrollo, whom he chased around within the sculpture's inner sides while madly swinging his swords. "You knew the exhibit would have a Scarlet eye, _didn't you?!_ "

Chrollo smirked. Kurapika gnashed his teeth and snarled. The latter stabbed his swords into the green section, cornering the former between them. Then, Kurapika attempted to flying-kick Chrollo. However, Chrollo flexibly bent backwards over the exhibit he was trapped against, allowing Kurapika to safely fly over him. Kurapika tried again, leaping over the exhibit another time. Unfortunately for him, Chrollo anticipated this and caught Kurapika by the shoulders before slamming the latter atop the formaldehyde. Kurapika struggled furiously, kicking and swinging his fists, but Chrollo avoided his legs by putting himself between them and effortlessly bound his narrow wrists with one wide hand.

"Calm down," said Chrollo, and Kurapika headbutted him in the chin. He blinked rapidly, his stance remaining firm. He also used his free hand to press Kurapika's head down. "I know I've forced you into an awfully uncomfortable position, but _please_ take some deep breaths."

Kurapika _was_ taking deep breaths, followed by ragged exhales. His eyes were _not_ dimming in the slightest. "This was your plan from the start, wasn't it?" he growled. "The reason why you invited me, it wasn't to have a plus-one, but because I told you I despised flesh collectors. You knew I'd get angered if I came here."

Chrollo nodded. "That's right."

"And now you want my eyes."

Chrollo shook his head. " _That's_ not. Actually, this is really just...a _really_ mean prank."

"What?"

"Remember what you said during our Gungi game? You said it was okay to follow a stranger around if you could ascertain they were good, and although I agreed, I was also thinking you needed a wake-up call or in the future, you'd be following a stranger somewhere dangerous. Thus, I brought you here, where you'd undoubtedly experience some emotional pain. _Heh_. I didn't expect you to go absolutely ballistic though."

"You think this is _funny?!_ You've just made me reveal my eyes to a whole bunch of strangers!"

"That's okay. Dead men don't tell tales."

"What're you-- _Hey!_ "

Chrollo lifted Kurapika off the exhibit, carrying him on his hip. Kurapika's struggle ended fast, for he was stunned by the mass of corpses on the floor. Except the artist he had murdered himself, the eleven other guests plus the four security guards inside had been decapitated.

At last, Kurapika found his voice. "What happened?"

"Machi," answered Chrollo. "Probably for a long time now."

"Danchou," said Pakunoda, outside of the exhibit. She raised her wrist, showing her watch. "We've got half an hour left."

Chrollo lowered Kurapika to the bloodstained floor. "That's more than enough time."

"Who are you people?" asked Kurapika, quietly, shakily. His eyes were back to brown.

Chrollo beamed toothily. " _Thieves._ "

From his pocket, Chrollo produced a ballpoint pen, and stabbed it into the sculpture. Cracks expanded from that single writing equipment. In a matter of seconds, the formaldehyde crumbled. Chrollo, Pakunoda, and Machi immediately began sifting through the ruin. Any chunk of formaldehyde containing something valuable was inserted into a sack.

Kurapika had taken a few steps back to avoid the mini-landslide of formaldehyde. He continued to step back while the three worked, until he was at the red section. There, he bent forward and stuck his hands into the rubble. Then, he stood straight again, cupping a Scarlet eye encased in formaldehyde.

"You can keep that."

Kurapika jolted. His head turned sharply, finding Chrollo squatting beside him.

"You should keep this too," said Chrollo, handing Kurapika his wooden swords. "Give your ancestor a proper burial, okay?"

Kurapika swallowed visibly, furrowed his brow, and snatched his swords. "I already intended to."

Chrollo nodded. "We're almost done taking everything," he said while placing rubies into his sack. "After this, my friends and I will heading out of the museum, and then we'll be fleeing this town. You don't have to follow."

"Well, I'm going to!" Kurapika snapped, his irises sparking like a clicked lighter. "You'll run off with my Piko if I just stay here!"

Chrollo stood up, chuckling. "That's a good idea." Again, he leapt, reaching the room's back doors faster than Kurapika can blink. Said doors were already opened by Pakunoda. "Hurry, Kurapika!" Chrollo called out playfully. "Or you really _will_ lose your bird!"

The three thieves did not even bother waiting for Kurapika to reach the exit before sprinting out of the room. Past the exit was the rest of the museum. A path of velvet ropes had been set to guide the guests back to the waiting room. The thieves ignored the path, relying on Pakunoda's navigation instead. One minute after they left the room, the three were bursting through the museum's back door.

"And now, we wait for Kurapika," said Chrollo, leaning by the door.

"Danchou," said Machi, "do you seriously intend to recruit that kid?"

"Mm, not today," replied Chrollo. "Not until he's learnt Nen."

"Are you going to teach him, Danchou?" asked Pakunoda.

"After he's developed a Hatsu, yes. What about you two? What do you think about Kurapika?"

"Fairly athletic and stealthy, with some amazing strength in the right conditions," answered Pakunoda. "Not to mention, intelligent enough to win against you in a game of Gungi."

"How do you know I wasn't going easy on him?"

"You've been testing him the whole time, no? To do that effectively, you either didn't hold back at all, or at least played at a level that would require a higher-than-average intelligence to properly battle."

Chrollo smiled. "You know me so well, Paku. And you, Machi? What are your thoughts?"

Machi shushed him. "He's almost here," she whispered.

The three darted from the exit, rounded a corner, and entered the woods nearby, where they found Kurapika's Piko. Pakunoda freed the Piko from the tree it was tied to, while Chrollo and Machi loaded the stolen goods on the saddle.

"My opinion on that kid," said Machi, still whispering, "is the same as Paku's, but I'm not comfortable with your reason to recruit him, Danchou."

"What do you mean?" asked Chrollo, whispering too.

"You're fascinated by what he becomes when his eyes turn red."

"And you aren't?"

"His rage blinds him. He didn't even notice everyone dropping dead around him, or the bodies on the ground when he attacked you. Even though he doesn't want people to find out his true identity, he can't stifle his own rage. That lack of self-restraint...is seriously dangerous. It shouldn't be revered at all."

Leaves rustled behind them, and conversation ceased. Something comes swirling towards them. Chrollo caught it in one hand, 'it' being a pair of wooden swords bound together by a cord. However, no one was actually looking at the swords. The three were focused on Kurapika, who stood where the swords came, with his arm outstretched in front of him.

"Don't you _dare_ steal my Piko!" he shouted, his eyes flickering between brown and red.

"We weren't going to," said Chrollo, offering the swords to Kurapika. "We really were waiting for you. How did you find us, by the way?"

"I followed the corpses of staff members," answered Kurapika, as he marched forward and snatched back his weapons. "Also, I passed some alive staff. I think they might've reported us."

Leaves rustled again, this time accompanied with "Check over there! There's footprints! I'm going this way!"

"And we're going _that_ way," Chrollo whispered, swiftly turning to the direction in question while pulling Kurapika close to him.

Pakunoda yanked the Piko's reins, causing the bird to start running. The former ran with it, and increased her pace until both of them were running at eighty kilometres per hour, alongside Chrollo and Machi.

For the first time, Kurapika did not object to Chrollo carrying him. In fact, he clung tightly.

"Why did you consider getting a transport if you could run this fast?!" he asked Chrollo.

"To carry the goods, obviously. Also, we don't intend to run the entire journey. We're taking the train soon."

Kurapika looked at the destination they were headed. "You mean we're hijacking a moving freight train car."

"That's another way to put it."

The sprint was punctuated with a leap from the runners. When they landed, they were surrounded by crates of foodstuff. The Piko dropped into a sitting position. The others followed suit, sitting against its plush feathers, except for Kurapika. After Chrollo let him down, he chose to sit, slouched, at the car's opening, letting his legs dangle over the edge. Chrollo spent a minute staring at Kurapika's back before joining him at the edge.

"Whatcha doin'?" Chrollo casually questioned. Kurapika moved his head slightly, allowing the former to see the scarlet eyeball in his hands. " _Ah_."

"I was thinking about taking this home," said Kurapika, nodding at the eyeball, "but my clan relocates frequently. My home wouldn't be their's. Perhaps I'll just bury it somewhere nice, a place no one can find, so it can never be put on display again. That's how we protected ourselves."

"I see." Silence befell them, later broken by Chrollo. "Are you still angry about that prank?"

A second moment of silence, and Kurapika slowly shook his head. "It's waned off enough that I can forgive you."

"That's fast."

"Well, your latest actions kind of convinced me."

"Oh? Please elaborate."

"The fact that you could run faster than a car for such a long distance proves that if you truly intended to, you'd be long gone with my Piko, and the fact that you didn't means you _actually_ were waiting for me. You even carried me all the way here. It made me realize you've done nothing but helped me since we met, although your prank was a _very_ messed-up way of helping me," Kurapika mumbled at the end. "Nevertheless, thank you."

Chrollo chuckled. "You're welcome. However, answer me this: do you still think I helped out of kindness?"

Kurapika stared at him with a blank, yet _not_ totally blank, expression. "Yes," he answered, "I do think you're helping me out of kindness, but I believe that's only _part_ of the reason."

Chrollo's eyes narrowed. "You believe there's something else factoring my desire to help you?"

Kurapika nodded.

"And what is that factor?"

"You like me."

"I like you," Chrollo stated monotonously, and Kurapika nodded again with an additional cheeky grin. Chrollo faced forward. "Admittedly, you're not wrong."

"Of course, I'm not. Like, really--Who would do _this_ much for someone they didn't particularly like?"

"True. What about you, though?"

"Hmm?"

Chrollo turned to Kurapika. "Do _you_ like me?"

Kurapika's 'blank-yet-not-totally-blank' expression returned. "If you asked me this when we were at the hotel, I'd instantly answer yes."

"And what would you say now?"

"I'd say, after everything you've put me through, I _don't_ hate you."

"That's nice to hear. We'll be able to part on good terms, this way."

Kurapika furrowed his brow. " _Part?_ "

"Well, you've got your own plans, don't you? You've got to find a doctor for you friend."

"How did you--Oh, right. You saw the papers."

"And I'm going to meet up with my other friends."

"Friends like--" Kurapika glanced at Pakunoda and Machi "-- _them?_ "

Chrollo glanced at them too. "Who kill and steal for a living and therefore would not be bothered by a murderous red-eyed child? Yeah, those sort of friends."

Kurapika went silent. He turned to the eyeball, fiddling with it while stiffly swinging his legs. Eventually, he spoke again, "Chrollo."

"Yes, Kurapika?" responded Chrollo, who kept his eyes on him the whole time.

"Can I...keep following you for a while?"

"Sure, but I won't be helping you find doctors."

"I can follow you and do that at the same time."

"If you say so."

Chrollo stood up and returned to the Piko. He unlatched Machi's rucksack from the saddle. From it, he took out a thick, yellowed book and a thermos containing coffee. Then, using the Piko as a backrest and his own lap as a book stand, Chrollo sat down and got to reading. Four pages in, he paused to drink some coffee. His gaze slid off the pages, to find Kurapika sitting next to him, asleep against the Piko's feathers. Chrollo gently flicked away strands of Kurapika's bangs, so the red sunset could color his eyelids. He resumed reading afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how to tag Kurapika and Chrollo's relationship.
> 
> I don't want to put a '/' because I don't intend to write any romantic or sexual interactions between them, as this is a story about Chrollo grooming Kurapika into becoming a loyal Spider.
> 
> At the same time, '&' would denote they are equal friends, when in fact, Kurapika will never be equal to Chrollo, who will always be at a higher ground, manipulating him.


	2. The Mother & Sulky Eldest Daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurapika spends a night talking to Paku and Machi.

When Kurapika opened his eyes, he saw a small glow. Blinking a few times helped him see the glow came from a smartphone's flashlight, specifically Chrollo's smartphone. The glow was aimed on the pages of the book spread open on his lap. Chrollo dogeared the left page and shut the book before switching off the light. Kurapika opened his eyes a bit wider to watch Chrollo. The latter exhaled lengthily as he leaned against the Piko. After that, his breaths were moderate.

"Goodnight," Kurapika murmured. Then, he stood up, coming face-to-face with Machi.

Kurapika's eyes bugged out, his jaw fell, and Machi clamped a hand around his mouth. Before he could start struggling, Kurapika was lifted over to Machi's side of the Piko. Even after he was lifted over, Kurapika could not struggle because Machi had already entrapped him in her limbs.

Crouched by the Piko, Pakunoda was hissing, "Machi! Why did you that?!"

Machi's eyes were wide open, contrasting her barely-moving mouth. "I thought he was going scream."

" _He's--_ " Pakunoda noted the shrill, muffled shrieks coming from Machi's hand "--is." She bent forward, positioning her face directly in front of Kurapika's. "Listen to me, Kurapika. Machi is afraid you'll make a scene and wake up Danchou. If you calm down, she'll let you go." She raised her gaze. "Won't you, Machi?"

Machi nodded once, her chin brushing Kurapika's hair. Pakunoda looked at Kurapika. His shriek had ended since the earlier conversation, replaced by harsh yet quiet breathing. At last, Machi splayed her limbs.

Upon being released, Kurapika scampered behind Pakunoda. He spoke between wheezes, "I wasn't...going...to yell... Maybe...a gasp...of shock..."

"Ah," Machi replied tonelessly before noticing Pakunoda's glare. "Sorry." After that, she was standing up and looking over the Piko.

Pakunoda laid back on the Piko with a sigh. She faced Kurapika. He was sitting hunched against the Piko, cupping his cheeks.

"Are you in pain?" asked Pakunoda.

Kurapika nodded. "I felt like my face was going to break," he mumbled. "Does she do this often?"

"Which one? Watching Danchou sleep or holding poor souls in a tight body-lock?"

"Um... _both?_ "

"Neither happens often. We aren't always travelling with Danchou, and Machi's more of a mid-range fighter."

"I see." Next, in a softer voice, Kurapika asked, "Does Machi have a crush on Chrollo?"

Pakunoda smirked. "What do you think?" she asked back, just as softly.

"I think...she likes Chrollo, but won't act on it because he's dating you."

Machi glowered at him. " _Not. True,_ " she snarled through clenched teeth.

Pakunoda turned her body towards Kurapika, using her width as a wall between him and Machi. "Danchou and I _aren't_ dating," she told Kurapika, laughter shuddering her voice. "However, there's a certain way I like to view our relationship, and that is: Mom and Dad."

"Mom and Dad?" Kurapika repeated curiously.

"Danchou mentioned other friends, didn't he? Those friends are also my and Machi's friends, and there are many more. When all of us friends come together, some get very rowdy, but Danchou always gets them to calm down, and I can too, to a lesser extent."

"So, you're the 'Mom' and Chrollo's the 'Dad'," Kurapika concluded. "What about Machi?"

"She's our sulky eldest daughter. (Behind Pakunoda, Machi audibly exhaled through her nostrils.) We also have a cute youngest son--he's quite precocious, like you. Hopefully, you two'll meet soon," Pakunoda stated with a wink. As she talked, she counted on her fingers. "Besides that, there are two older, moody sons, a pair of fun, noisy uncles, and a big, cuddly grandpa, who isn't actually old--he's just wise."

Kurapika giggled. "That's a fun family."

"It is." Pakunoda's gaze went askance. "Even though one of the moody sons don't know the meaning of that word."

"If I keep following Chrollo, I'll meet all your friends, won't I?"

"Yep, but I should tell you Machi and I won't be with you after this train ride."

"Eh? Why?"

"It's only for the big heists when many of us gather, which happens, maybe, every two or so years. Other than that, its easier to move in smaller teams."

"Hmm, the family doesn't gather too often, huh?" said Kurapika, while caressing his chin contemplatively. "And Mommy and Daddy don't always travel together..."

"No, no, no," said Pakunoda, wagging a finger. She pointed that finger at Kurapika's nose, making his eyes cross. "It's Mom and Dad, not Mommy and Daddy. It sounds weird otherwise."

Kurapika nodded. He reestablished eye contact with Pakunoda. "Your family's the opposite of mine, though. For us, we're always gathered, and its rare to split off."

"I take that means you travelling on your own is an anomaly?"

"More accurately, it means me travelling on my own _at this age_ is an anomaly. To see the outside world, a test must be passed, and to take that test, the taker must be an adult." Kurapika grinned smugly. "I convinced the clan Elder to let me take the test."

"You passed a test meant for adults? That's amazing."

Kurapika's grin faltered. "Well, actually..." He averted his gaze. "I _didn't_. Pass the test, that is."

Pakunoda raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"One part of the test was to get groceries from the outside world, within a time limit and...without my eyes turning red. I lost my temper to some thugs, so I failed the second condition, and the examiners would know I failed because I had put on a special eye medicine that would keep my eyes red for the rest of the day."

"In that case, how are you out here?"

"Thanks to Pairo. I was allowed a partner to get the groceries with. Thus, I chose Pairo, my best friend, and get _this_ ," said Kurapika, snickering, "he swapped the medicine with his own. I didn't know it either, until I found out my eyes stopped being red on the way back to the clan."

Pakunoda gasped lightly. "You _cheated_."

Kurapika stuck his tongue out. "The Elder cheated first. Apparently, he bribed those thugs to provoke me. Pairo overheard the discussion. That's why he knew to cheat." His tongue withdrew as a smile grew on his face. "He's amazing. Pairo's helped me so many times."

"And now, you're returning the favor by finding him a doctor," said Pakunoda. "You must feel incredibly indebted to Pairo to be willing to travel alone at such a young age."

" _That_ , and I also wanted a life of adventure, _although_ ," said Kurapika, stressing on the last word, "following a bunch of murdering thieves wasn't how I imagined my adventurous life to look like. Then again," he spoke more cheerfully, "my priority was to have fun." He made some grumbling noises. "But being a part of your crimes _didn't_ feel fun at all."

"If that's how you feel, what convinced you to continue following Danchou?" asked Pakunoda.

Kurapika curled up, pressing his face against his knees. "I...wanted to find more people, who don't feel scared when my eyes turn scarlet. My clan is in hiding, _has been_ in hiding, for generations now, because of the outside world's prejudice towards our eyes. We stay close because it's only within the clan that our eyes would not attract trouble. Occasionally, someone in the clan _does_ meet a person from the outside world who aren't disturbed by our eyes, but then they'd be married into the clan and become someone _within_. Basically, I want to prove, by meeting Chrollo's friends, _your_ friends, that there are _plenty_ of people in the outside world who wouldn't be bothered by our eyes."

"Even though those people are hardened criminals?"

Kurapika answered a few seconds later, "What's important is you're friendly and aren't going to take our eyes." He glanced at Machi. "Or at the very least, _civil,_ and not going to take my eyes."

"That sounds reasonable," Pakunoda commented with a yawn.

"Ah, you're sleepy." Kurapika stood up. "I shouldn't bother you anymore. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Pakunoda replied as Kurapika disappeared to the other side of the Piko.

Chrollo was back in sight, and still asleep. His sleeping position had not changed at all. His legs were laid straight and close. The book he was reading earlier was hugged tightly to his stomach. His posture was straight, if not upright, and he was facing forward, with a slight tilt to the ceiling.

Upon arriving at Chrollo's side, Kurapika immediately felt Machi's stare. Her sharp eyes were opened wide and fixed to Chrollo. However, when Kurapika looked at her, Machi's pupils twitched, establishing eye contact with him.

"How can he sleep under that sort of attention?" Kurapika wondered aloud, but not too loud, as he walked around Chrollo and sat against the part of the Piko directly beneath Machi.

For about thirty minutes, Kurapika passed time by looking out the train car's opening. He counted the cattle that passed, named the stars in the sky, and admired the crescent moon. After that, he lifted his gaze. He saw Machi, leaning on the Piko's back, chin within folded arms. Her eyes were as wide as ever, and still glued to Chrollo, who had not shifted an inch.

"Aren't you tired?" Kurapika whispered to Machi. "He hasn't changed his position in any manner. Don't you feel bored?"

"Mind your own business," Machi muttered.

Kurapika turned to Chrollo. The former observed how the moonlight accentuated the paleness of the latter's skin and gave his raven hair a nice sheen by reflecting off it. Furthermore, the train ride was far from smooth, and if the car bounced, so did Chrollo. Despite that, his position never changed.

"I guess I can sort of see the appeal," Kurapika admitted, before looking out the opening again.

The stars had become less visible, as dark clouds gradually enveloped them. The crescent moon, too, was slowly being hidden. New sounds accompanied the train's clattering movements, and that was the whistle of wind and the pattering of increasingly-heavy rain.

Kurapika hurried to the opening, to drag the sliding door shut. Wind and rain were already invading the car, causing the Piko to shiver. Kurapika had to pull the door with all his might because it was moving against the train's momentum. He had to watch his step too, or he would slip on the rainwater wetting the floor.

A flash of lightning surprised Kurapika, and the door slipped out of his fingers. At that moment, Machi appeared. She pushed the door close at the same time thunder boomed. Before the storm clouds could completely shadow the moon and stars, Machi had already plunged the car into darkness.

Kurapika rubbed the rainwater out of his eyes. After blinking a few times, he questioned quietly, "Machi? Are you there?"

"I'm here," Machi responded at a similar volume, in front of Kurapika.

Thunder sounded overhead, rattling the car and Kurapika. The latter shrieked. The thunder continued. So did Kurapika, until Machi muted him again, this time with a hug.

"Mm?" Kurapika hummed curiously, after his mouth was muffled by Machi's firm shoulder.

"It's just thunder," said Machi. "Quit screaming."

Kurapika freed his mouth to hiss, "Well, metal is a poor sound insulator so it can't make thunder sound less scary!" Another thunderclap. Kurapika clung to Machi, using her shoulder to suppress his latest shriek. When the thunder died, he asked, "Isn't thunder louder than my screams?"

"Thunder is far away," Machi explained, " _you_ aren't. If you screamed a mile away from us, I wouldn't care, but you're here with us, so if I don't stop you, you'll wake Danchou and Paku."

"That's reasonable," Kurapika mumbled. "Well, at least you're not using a wrestling hold on me." He pushed Machi lightly. "You can let go. I won't scream anymore."

"Really?" Machi questioned, and thunder sounded again.

Kurapika stiffened, but did not make even a squeak. He did, however, cling tighter to Machi, who sighed. She stood up, lifting Kurapika off the floor as she did, and walked to the Piko. She sat down against it, next to Chrollo, with Kurapika seated on her folded legs.

"Are you still watching Chrollo?" Kurapika inquired, some time later.

Machi snorted. "In this darkness? How can I?"

"Then," Kurapika spoke hesitantly, "did you choose to sit near him to feel his presence?"

It took a second for Machi to softly utter, "Yeah."

"Do you like Chrollo because he's handsome or for his personality?"

"Do you want me to _snap your neck?_ "

Kurapika took his hands off Machi to shield his neck. "No...but can I have an answer anyway?"

Machi clicked her tongue and huffed once before finally saying, "I _respect_ Danchou for his leadership capabilities."

"Well, duh. That's why you call him 'Danchou'," Kurapika muttered under his breath.

"Do you want to hear my answer or not?"

Kurapika shut his mouth.

"Danchou," Machi continued, "is unflappable. No matter how annoying some of the members can get or what dangerous turns a heist can take, Danchou never falters. He will always know what to say and do to set everything back on the right track. No, he isn't just unflappable. He's _unstoppable_. It's because of Danchou that _we_ are unstoppable."

"Wow," Kurapika whispered. "Chrollo sounds amazing."

"He _is,_ " Machi said with a smile that Kurapika could not see, but could _hear_.

"Don't you think he was kind of a jerk for scamming me though?"

"Don't you think you were kind of an idiot for following a stranger around?"

Kurapika shut his mouth again, and did not speak for the rest of the night as he would have returned to sleep in that time. When he woke up, Pakunoda would have opened the halted car to let in sunlight, Chrollo would be packing his book in a rucksack, and Kurapika would find out that Machi never stopped holding him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Believe me when I say there will come a scene where Kurapika, as a teen, defiantly walks away and Pakunoda yells at him, "Don't you walk away from me, young man! You turn back round right now!" and Kurapika will actually stop and obediently face her.


	3. A pair of Fun, Noisy Uncles (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uvogin and Nobunaga introduce Kurapika to Nen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that it's probably super rare to find a fic where Kurapika can actually interact with Uvogin in a non-violent manner and befriend Nobunaga. I wish there were more fanfiction of Kurapika joining the Phantom Troupe, and he actually interacts with Spiders besides Chrollo.

At the station the freight train stopped at, Kurapika (plus Chrollo) parted ways with Pakunoda and Machi. The latter two departed on a luxury express train, and could be seen in a car's window. Kurapika waved goodbye until the ladies were out of sight.

"I'm going to leave you behind, Kurapika," Chrollo called out from afar.

Kurapika turned around, his Piko doing the same at a lazier pace. "You haven't gotten off the bench yet."

Chrollo stood up. "I am now."

Kurapika remained near the tracks. "Are you going to scam me the whole time I follow you?"

"' _Scam_ ' is a rather harsh word," stated Chrollo, "when all I'm doing is teasing you."

"And ' _prank_ ' is an understatement," Kurapika retorted, "when what you've done was show me a dismembered body part of my long-deceased ancestor without warning."

"Hmm, true," Chrollo admitted. "Don't worry. I won't do anything like that again, you're already wary of me. _Although_ ," he uttered with a hand to his chin and his gaze going elsewhere, "there's nothing to be wary about if you stopped following me--"

"I won't stop following you!" Kurapika interrupted, immediately hurrying closer to Chrollo. His deadpan frown changed to a childish pout. "Unless you don't want me to follow you..."

Chrollo smiled. The hand at his chin moved to tousle Kurapika's hair. "I never said that," he told him. He moved his hand to Kurapika's shoulder. "Let's go see my friends, shall we?"

Kurapika smiled too. "Okay!"

Thus, the two of them exited the station side-by-side, with the Piko following obediently at the back. On the way out, Kurapika received a pamphlet about the town he was visiting today, which he proceeded to study and afterwards, summarize aloud for Chrollo.

"Apparently, this town is pro-animal, and built so that people and their animal companions do not have to separate anywhere they go. If there is a service or a shop meant for people, there will be a similar one for animals." Kurapika turned to his Piko. "We're gonna have so much fun!" he spoke in his native tongue.

Chrollo's eyebrows peaked with fascination. "Is that the language of the Kurta clan?"

Kurapika faced him and nodded. "Yes, it is!" he replied using the common language. "I was telling my Piko what fun we'll be having in this town together."

"I see. Maybe someday you can teach me your language."

"I could teach you today. Ah, no-- _today_ I'm meeting your friends. In that case, I'll teach you _tomorrow_."

Chrollo shook his head. "Tomorrow, I'll be doing some business."

"What business?"

"There are people who would like to buy some of the things I'd stolen from that art exhibition," explained Chrollo. "Oh, that reminds me. Does the pamphlet mention a pawnshop?"

"No, but there's a QR code that'll give you a map of the city."

Kurapika held the pamphlet near Chrollo, so the latter could hover his phone over the aforementioned code. After a moment of standing around and staring at his phone's screen, Chrollo walked into an adjacent alley, Kurapika and his Piko following suit. At the end of that alley, Chrollo turned right. He had to walk past a few shops before coming across one with a signboard that read **PAWNBROKER**. The eponymous pawnbroker had her counter built right at the front of the shop, with pawned items in walls of shelves making up the interior.

Chrollo stepped away for a moment to retrieve a pouch tied to the Piko's saddle. When he returned to counter, he tipped the pouch. Out spilled pebbles of gold ore, which Kurapika observed with wide eyes.

"How did you remove the formaldehyde?" Kurapika asked Chrollo.

Chrollo simply replied, "Determination and a whole _lot_ of patience."

Determination and a whole lot of patience was pawned for ten million Jennies. Chrollo and Kurapika, and the Piko, moved on from the pawnshop, continuing down the town's wide road, alongside other people and their transport animals.

"The people who want to buy from you," Kurapika began during the walk, "are they shady people?"

"Yup. They actually sponsored our tickets." Chrollo chuckled. "We were _paid_ to steal. Usually, it's the other way around."

"Where will you meet them?"

"The same place we'll meet my friends."

"And where is that?" questioned Kurapika. Half an hour later, after Chrollo had led him to the outskirts of the town, he found the answer. "An abandoned barn?"

"That is rumored to be haunted," Chrollo elaborated, "so we don't have to worry about random visitors."

Suddenly, a deep, echoing voice sounded from within the barn. "It is not a rumor!" howled the voice, sluggishly. "This barn is truly haunted!"

Kurapika squeaked and hid behind Chrollo, who rolled his eyes.

"And what's haunting this barn?" the latter questioned disinterestedly.

Footsteps neared the entrance, going _clack, clack, clack!_ A thin figure stood in the shadows. The only things sunlight could reach were the figure's sandals, traditional robe, and katana.

The figure answered Chrollo, with a voice that was a higher pitch than the previous, "A samurai, who sheltered in this barn after a bloody duel. I never recovered."

"That's rather," Chrollo drawled, " _mundane_."

" _Rather mundane?!_ " repeated the figure, who stomped completely into the sunlight to show his sharp nose, high ponytail, and indignant expression. "I spent _half an hour_ thinking up that story!"

Chrollo's eyes widened slightly. "You've been here for half an hour?"

"Yeah, thanks to Uvo," the figure grumbled.

"Hey, if it were up to _you_ ," said the source of the deep, echoing voice as he plodded out of the shadows, "we would've been half a _day_ late." He was tall enough for his large Afro to brush the barn's door frame, and three times wider than the samurai. "Besides, I wanted to make a good impression." He looked in Chrollo's direction.

The samurai followed his gaze. "Danchou, you've brought...an ostrich."

"What? No," said the tall man. "That's an emu. It's got feathers on its head and neck, see?"

"It's neither an ostrich nor an emu!" Kurapika piped up, finally stepping out of Chrollo's shadow. "It's a Piko!"

"Uvogin," said Chrollo to the tall man before facing the samurai, "Nobunaga, meet Kurapika."

Uvogin moved closer. His footsteps made light tremors. "So, _you're_ Kurapika?" He got on one knee once he was near enough and held open his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too, Uvogin!" replied Kurapika, and he enthusiastically took the hand in front of him, which easily engulfed his. "It's also nice to meet you, Nobunaga!" he added with a slight bow aimed at the samurai.

Nobunaga bowed in return, before pointing at him. "Your, uh, Piko is escaping."

"Huh?" Kurapika turned around and saw his Piko trudging towards the town. "Oh, no! I haven't fed him today. He'll raid shops if he goes alone!"

"I'll go with him," Chrollo offered, already moving.

"But he's my--" Kurapika tried to protest, only to be muted by Chrollo's gentle hand on his head.

"It's okay," Chrollo assured him, his hand sliding off Kurapika's hair to caress the latter's cheek. "Take this time to get to know my friends. It's why you followed me, no?"

Kurapika looked at his Piko (that was slowly shrinking into the distance), then turned to Uvogin and Nobunaga (who were both grinning invitingly), and finally faced Chrollo (whose knuckles were still brushing his cheek) again to inform him, "He normally eats four bales of hay per day."

Chrollo nodded. "Noted."

Kurapika waved goodbye as Chrollo strode to the Piko. Once his transport animal was no longer travelling alone, Kurapika spun on his heel. Uvogin and Nobunaga awaited him near the barn.

Uvogin grandly gestured at the entrance. "Wanna talk inside the haunted barn?"

"Okay!" Kurapika answered cheerfully.

Upon closer inspection, the barn was not actually so spooky that it deserved to be labelled 'haunted'. Was it dark, dank and moldy? Yes, with a heap of broken, greenish wood at the back. However, the roof had lost some panels, allowing sunlight to enter. Granted, the illumination was quite scarce, but hey--Kurapika was able to make out Uvogin and Nobunaga's faces.

The brightest part of the barn happened to be the center of it. Therefore, that was where Kurapika, Uvogin and Nobunaga sat to talk.

"So, _Kurapika_ , was it?" said Nobunaga, folding his legs when sitting. "That a girl name or a boy name?"

Kurapika frowned. He leaned forward, over the soles of his feet which were pressed together. "Why're you asking like my gender's uncertain?"

"To be fair, Danchou was pretty uncertain too during our call." Uvogin, while leaning against a raised knee, did the phone hand gesture near his ear. "'I'm bringing with me a boy. Or a girl. I actually never confirmed.'"

Kurapika's frown deepened. "I'm a boy. What else did Chrollo mention about me in that call?"

"That you were ready to follow him to the ends of the Earth after only talking to him for a minute," answered Uvogin with a cheeky grin.

"Ugh. Not that again," Kurapika grumbled.

"For the record, I thought you sounded really cute," said Uvogin.

"Well, Machi didn't," Kurapika murmured. Then, he spoke normally, "Anything else? That _doesn't_ put me in a negative light?"

"Why, yes. Yes, there is," said Nobunaga, bringing his katana onto his lap. "Danchou called you a swordsman."

"I," Kurapika said uneasily, as he pulled his wooden swords out from under his shawl, "can't deny that, but since my fighting style isn't listed in any books on swordsmanship, I can't affirm either."

"Nonetheless, they're swords." Nobunaga unsheathed a portion his katana. "Wanna try sparring with me?"

Kurapika took one look at the blade's gleaming edge and shook his head. "You'll probably kill me."

"You're right," Nobunaga admitted. He stood up. Then, he completely unsheathed the katana to stab it into the ground beside him. He used both hands to hold the scabbard in front of him. "How about now?"

Kurapika got to his feet. "Alright." When Nobunaga held his scabbard, one-handed, near his side, Kurapika pointed both swords at him.

Uvogin immediately scuttled far enough to be almost completely swallowed by the shadows. "Three, two," he counted down, "one, match _start!_ "

Kurapika made the first move--a leap forward. Nobunaga reacted with a slash, as if the scabbard was a blade being unsheathed. Kurapika had read of this technique. _I_ _aido_ , it was named. He knew what would happen, and the moment Nobunaga moved, Kurapika swung both blades downwards, hitting the scabbard. The impact boosted his next move--a jump over Nobunaga. When Kurapika landed, he stabbed forward. His attack was deflected by Nobunaga's scabbard. He accepted the deflection, using the momentum to twirl and whip his other blade across the unguarded side of Nobunaga's face.

Uvogin whooped from the shadows. "Ooh! A clean hit!"

Nobunaga chuckled, rubbing the back of his hand on his cheek. "Not bad, kiddo--I mean, _Kurapika_." He held his scabbard to his side again. "Alright. Time to hold back a _little_ less."

Kurapika leapt back two meters, a distance Nobunaga covered instantly. Eyes widening, Kurapika hopped as soon as both feet touched the ground, and at the same time Nobunaga began a second iaido. The scabbard struck Kurapika's foot, hampering his ascent. When it was at Nobunaga's other side, the scabbard was flipped and gripped in two hands before being jabbed towards Kurapika. Wooden blades were crossed in front of Kurapika's chest, taking the scabbard's blow. Despite that, Kurapika was thrown to the back of the barn, landing in the moldy wood heap.

"Wow, Nobu," Uvogin deadpanned. "You _really_ held back, didn't ya?"

"Hey, it's not my fault he's got shoddy swordsmanship," Nobunaga replied defensively. "Or maybe it's his _master's_ fault. It's could be his master that's the shoddy one."

The heap of wood abruptly exploded. Splinters rained as Kurapika charged at Nobunaga. The latter saw two red pricks of light expanding instantaneously until a harsh kick slammed into his scabbard, which he held upright to shield his skinny body. The kick sent Nobunaga skidding almost all the way to the barn's entrance. In his initial place stood Kurapika, scarlet-eyed, coated in splinters, and heaving ragged breaths.

Kurapika scraped his swords together once, similar to how one would strike a match. The sound of wood rubbing sharply against wood echoed throughout the barn like a beast snapping their fangs.

"I _dare_ you to repeat what you said!" he roared at Nobunaga.

A chuckle, and then the scabbard was lowered to reveal Nobunaga's grotesque smirk. "You've got a _shoddy_ sword master."

Kurapika closed the distance in the blink of an eye, yet Nobunaga easily sidestepped him. The latter raised his scabbard and promptly lowered it upon the latter. Kurapika crossed his blades, catching the scabbard like a pair of shears preparing to snip a branch. Once the impact was divided, Kurapika quickly threw aside the scabbard, and consequently, Nobunaga's stance. He jutted one blade forward. Nobunaga sidestepped again before he was skewered between his ribs.

The match continued as so--one person attacks, the other moves to parry or dodge. As a result, both fighters were gradually traversing the barn, at a very fast pace.

"Uh-oh," said Uvogin, when the fighters reached him. He bent his knees, preparing to leap to the other end of the barn.

"Stay there, Uvo!" Nobunaga cried.

Uvogin froze. "Huh?" And then Nobunaga performed a baseball slide between his legs, prompting him to say louder, " _Huuuuuh?!_ "

After that, Kurapika appeared in front of Uvogin. The former jumped, likely to reach Nobunaga. However, the tip of the scabbard pierced through Uvogin's Afro just as Kurapika reached it, jabbing him in the forehead _hard_. For the second time during the match, Kurapika's ascent was interrupted. However, at the moment he began to fall, Kurapika latched onto Uvogin's white tank top.

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa!_ " Uvogin exclaimed as Kurapika climbed over his shoulder and onto his back and then around the side to reach his belly, all because Nobunaga was running laps around Uvogin. "That _tickles!_ "

"Up here, Kurapika!" shouted Nobunaga, with his gaze focused on Uvogin, before leaping high.

Uvogin smirked at Kurapika, who had crawled onto his right arm to chase Nobunaga. He felt soft shoe soles pressing firmly on his forearm. When those soles shifted, Uvogin swung his arm upwards. Whether Kurapika realized it or not, Uvogin had manipulated the trajectory of his jump so he was due to crash straight into Nobunaga.

"Here we go!" Nobunaga yelled, grinning wide. His scabbard was raised again.

Kurapika crossed his blades for the third time. Unlike the last two times, it was not to defend, as Nobunaga's neck was placed between them. Nobunaga, too, did not intend to repeat an attack. He swiftly flipped his scabbard, moved his grip from the opening to the body, and pressed the tip between Kurapika's shoulder blades.

Despite its speed, the impact was soft. Nothing was pierced, broken, or even bruised. Yet, Kurapika's eyes widened, his back arched, and he launched an agonized, skyward scream. His hands open involuntarily, letting his blades fall. He, too, was falling, but the sensation of Nobunaga's 'attack' overwhelmed his survival instincts. Fortunately, Uvogin caught him in his big, burly arms.

"Oh, no, Nobu!" Uvogin spoke with a loud, dramatic falsetto. "What have you _done?_ His _aura_ is _gushing_ _out_ like crazy!"

"I thought he knew how to use _Nen!_ " replied Nobunaga, using the same loud, dramatic falsetto. "But I guess his _aura nodes naturally open_ when _his eyes are scarlet_ and he's just using Nen _unconsciously!_ "

"My scarlet eyes do _what?_ " squawked Kurapika, brown eyes shaking as he regarded the vapor radiating from his person like white fire. "Is _this_ my aura? _Nen?_ "

Focused on himself, Kurapika failed to catch the devious grins exchanged between Uvogin and Nobunaga.

Uvogin carefully sat Kurapika on the ground while speaking, "Alright. Looks like you know nothing about Nen, so I'll tell you now." He sat down too, in front of him. "Nen is your life energy, which is what's currently flowing outta you, and if you keep letting it flow out like that, you're gonna faint from exhaustion."

Kurapika's eyes widened. "What am I supposed to--"

"Meditate," Uvogin interrupted. "You're gonna close your aura nodes through meditation. You know how to meditate, right?"

Kurapika responded by folding his legs, resting his hands on his knees, and closing his eyes. He began taking some deep breaths.

"Try to feel your aura," said Uvogin, calmly. "If you can't feel, then imagine it flowing throughout your body like blood, and right now it's leaving you. You can't let it leave you. You've gotta keep it close, like a layer of white jelly."

Kurapika opened an eye. " _What?_ "

"The goal is to make _this_ \--" Uvogin gestured at Kurapika's blazing aura "--look like a layer of white jelly because it'd mean you've succeeded in stopping your aura from flowing away."

"Okay," said Kurapika. His eye remained open, scanning his surroundings. "Where did Nobunaga go?"

"Outside, answering a call from Danchou," replied Uvogin. "And uh, don't be too mad at Nobu, 'kay? Sure the 'shoddy sword master' thing was kinda mean but he only said it the second time because he wanted a good fight. He'll definitely apologize later."

* * *

_"Has Kurapika been baptized yet?"_

"Two minutes ago, yep. Is it really a baptism though? If I do it while his nodes are already open?"

_"Are his nodes open when his eyes are brown?"_

"Yes."

_"Then, it **is** a baptism."_

"Yeah, you're right."

_"How was the fight?"_

"Surprising. I was prepared to see him go from having that wispy trail atop his head to a full-blown Ren, but you didn't tell me he could masterfully pull off Ko and Shu. Heck, he even transmuted the aura around his wooden blades into _actual_ blades. He wanted me _dead_ for dissing his technique."

_"Were you going to lose?"_

"Nah, I was gonna kick him away had the baptism not stunned him. Sure, he was pretty strong when his eyes turned scarlet, but I still didn't need to go all out. That being said, it was a fun fight. Heh. Wish you could've seen Kurapika crawling over Uvo like some kinda feral, rabid squirrel. It was hilarious."

_"I'm sure I'll get the chance to see that."_

"Because you'll be around when the rest of us train him?"

_"Yes."_

"But _you_ won't be training him. Right, Danchou?"

_"Only until he's developed a Hatsu, I've said."_

"Hmm... Well, Uvo's teaching him Ten right now."

_"How's Kurapika doing?"_

"His best, it looks. If he's a smart kid, he should be able to master Ten by lunchtime."

_"He is. And he will. Since he'd be training until lunchtime, I'll buy us some food on the way back. Anything you and Uvo want in particular? Except for alcohol. We can't have any while Kurapika's here."_

"We stole a whole expensive ham during our last heist. There's still enough to go around, so no need to get any meat."

_"I'll purchase bread, then."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I imagined writing this fic, I seriously thought it'd go like this: Chapter One focuses on Kurapika and Chrollo, whereas Chapter Two focuses on Kurapika and the other Spiders. Obviously, that's not happening.
> 
> So, I switched tactics. Since the Spiders aren't always together, each chapter will introduce a different pair of or individual Spider. For example, Chapter One focused on Chrollo and Chapter Two focused on Machi and Paku. Then, I wrote this chapter and realized this part of the story might be longer than I expected. Not to mention, it felt awkward having a time-skip after the phone call, so I decided to make that time-skip happen between chapters. 
> 
> Yes, I'm currently working on Chapter Four. I've already hit a dead end. Wish me luck.


	4. A pair of Fun, Noisy Uncles (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurapika has lunch with Chrollo, Uvogin and Nobunaga.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I should be able to complete Uvo and Nobu's arc within three parts. After that, I'll introduce Kurapika to Phinks and Fei.

"Okay," said Uvogin. "You can look now."

Kurapika slowly opened his eyes, and as Uvogin promised, his body appeared to be coated in a layer of white jelly. Kurapika tried to feel the jelly around his hand, but his fingers passed through them because--

"This is my aura," he mumbled, his eyes wide with amazement. Then, he looked up at Uvogin. " _You've_ got an aura too."

Uvogin nodded. "Every living thing has an aura. It's their life energy, after all, although normally, their aura would be super thin and they'd constantly leak from the top of their heads. Ten isn't something people can naturally employ."

"So, what I'm currently doing," said Kurapika, looking at his hands again, "is Ten?"

"Yep. There's also Zetsu," said Uvogin before his aura completely vanished.

Kurapika jolted. He leaned forward and squinted. After that, he poked Uvogin in the knee. "You're still here," said Kurapika while staring into Uvogin's eyes.

Uvogin laughed. "I still am! Now, let me show you Ren."

Kurapika rescinded his hand from Uvogin and hopped a whole meter away from where he sat as if Uvogin had abruptly burst into flames, because that was exactly how it seemed like to Kurapika. Uvogin laughed again.

"Don't be so scared," he said. "I'm only showing five percent of my power. Any higher and I'd level this barn."

Kurapika swallowed nervously. "You can do that? Destroy buildings with aura alone?"

"I could crack the ground too," Uvogin claimed, and he did, causing minor fissures to open up from the earth under him. Kurapika hopped back another meter when one fissure came near. Uvogin observed his reaction with a raised eyebrow. "Are you _that_ scared? Sorry, I'll shut off my Ren." As promised, his aura reverted to a gentler Ten.

Kurapika exhaled. "Earlier," he began on his way back to Uvogin, "Nobunaga mentioned something about using Nen. What did he mean?"

"Nen is the art of controlling your aura," explained Uvogin. "Since you've just learnt Ten, you can declare yourself a beginner-level Nen user."

"I see," said Kurapika, now standing a few feet in front of Uvogin because the ground was too damaged to sit on.

Despite sitting slightly slouched, Uvogin was still at eye level with Kurapika. "Wanna become a skilled Nen user?" the former inquired.

"Eh? Are you offering to train me?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Not that I don't want to learn, but why?"

Uvogin grinned toothily. "I wanna see if you can get strong enough to fight _me_."

Kurapika pursed his lips, making them form a zigzag of discomfort. "I feel like that'd take _years_."

Uvogin shrugged. "Well, you know what they say: 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.'"

"Will you be with me those entire thousand miles?" asked Kurapika.

Uvogin's gaze went askance. "No," he admitted before reestablishing eye contact, "but everyone in the troupe knows Nen, and if you're sticking close to Danchou, you'll get to meet and learn from them."

Kurapika's head tilted slightly. "Is that what you call yourselves? A _troupe?_ "

"Or a gang, or a band, or a brigade," Uvogin rattled off while counting on his fingers. "Most of the time, we say _troupe_ because we're the 'Phantom Troupe'." That term was accompanied by finger quotes and rolling eyes.

"You speak as if you never wanted to be named so," Kurapika remarked.

"That's because we had already named ourselves the 'Spiders'," answered, not Uvogin, but Chrollo.

Chrollo was standing right behind Uvogin, and since the latter was sitting, the former was only hidden from waist down. Chrollo was literally in front of Kurapika, yet he went unnoticed until he spoke because--

"You're using Zetsu!" said Kurapika, enthusiastically pointing at Chrollo.

"And you're performing Ten," replied Chrollo. His arms, which were initially behind him, were brought forward. He was carrying a wicker basket full of groceries. "Let's have lunch. Nobunaga's starting a cooking fire outside."

About two meters away from the barn, Nobunaga stood beside a pile of sticks encircled by stones. In one hand, he held a stick thinner than the ones at his feet, and in the other was an activated lighter. He brought both objects together. The thin stick, once ignited, joined the other sticks on the ground. A campfire appeared there.

"Fire's done!" Nobunaga casually announced, snapping the lighter shut. Then, Kurapika approached him. "Oh, um," he fumbled, looking away while scratching his chest.

Kurapika stepped into his line of sight. "Uvogin said you'd apologize," he stated with his arms folded and gaze narrowed.

"Okay, okay," said Nobunaga, taking his hand off his chest to make a relenting gesture. "I'm sorry for calling your swordsmanship and master shoddy the first time. I did that because I didn't want to admit it was _my_ fault for overestimating you. And I'm sorry for saying 'shoddy' a second time, which was only because it guaranteed good fight. Your swordsmanship is nowhere near my level, but it's impressive nonetheless. _Definitely_ fight me again when you've gotten a hang of Nen."

Kurapika held out his hand. "I'm holding you to that."

Nobunaga smirked and took the outstretched hand, giving it one firm shake. After the hands separated, preparations for lunch began. Kurapika ambled to his Piko, which was sitting a short distance from the fire, munching on hay. From its saddle, Kurapika retrieved a bag.

"What sort of ingredients do we have?" asked Kurapika, after bringing the bag to the fire and revealing the various portable cooking equipment inside it.

Chrollo stood next to him, showing the basket again. "I've bought ingredients for a vegetable stew, plus bread. Nobu and Uvo brought something of their own too."

"Then, I'll use _this_ and _that_ ," said Kurapika as he set up a tripod over the fire before suspending a pot between them, "and water."

Uvogin tipped his canteen over the pot. "Tell me when to stop."

Once the pot was half full, Kurapika told Uvogin, "Stop. Also, what's the thing Chrollo said you and Nobunaga brought?"

Uvogin closed his canteen with a smile. He turned to Nobunaga. "Hey, Nobu! Get the _thing!_ "

"I already started the fire," Nobunaga deadpanned, his arms and legs folded.

Uvogin frowned. "Lazy bum," he muttered under his breath, and then in a louder, more cordial tone, he said to Kurapika, "Gimme a second." More than a second passed when he returned to the barn.

In the meantime, Kurapika busied himself peeling and dicing the vegetables needed for the stew. Chrollo laid a newspaper sheet where the unneeded skin and roots of vegetables will be discarded. After that, he just watched Kurapika work.

"I have an extra knife," Kurapika said to him. "You can help too."

"I might impede you," replied Chrollo, "for I have no experience in meal preparation."

"At your _age?_ "

"Let's just say my childhood consisted of me being too hungry to spare a moment to cook, and presently, I rely on thievery to keep myself fed."

Kurapika squinted at the freshly-peeled potato in his hand.

"I bought the groceries using the money I got from selling the gold," said Chrollo, and Kurapika's gaze relaxed. "Does it bother you that I steal?"

"It'd bother me if you stole these groceries," replied Kurapika, dipping the knife into the potato, "because the people selling them just want to earn a livelihood."

Chrollo accepted his response with an intrigued hum. "And in what situation would thievery not bother you?"

"When it's out of necessity." Kurapika paused to drop potato cubes into the pot, in which was boiling water. "I doubt that's why _you_ steal, though."

"You think so?"

"At the very least, it's probably not your biggest motivator."

"You're right."

At last, Uvogin was back, this time cradling something bundled in parchment. "Here's the _thing!_ " he announced boisterously, later adding in a more subdued tone, "That Nobu was too lazy to get."

Nobunaga rolled his eyes with a snort. "Oh, come off it, Uvo. You know I did the most work to get that hunk of meat."

Kurapika looked up from the carrot he was peeling. "You've got meat?" he said, smiling.

Uvogin smiled too. He knelt near Kurapika. "Behold!" the former spoke grandly as he unfolded the parchment, revealing a ham with ash grey skin and deep yellow flesh.

Kurapika gasped. "The Maple Stump Ham! Named after the fact it actually resembles a maple tree stump _and_ has a sweetness akin to maple syrup!"

Chrollo turned to Nobunaga. "Have you tasted it?"

Nobunaga nodded. "And it ain't fake news."

"Let me tell you how Nobu and I got our hands on this log," said Uvogin as he began chipping at the ham, raining little pieces of meat into the pot.

Kurapika shifted closer to Uvogin while keeping his eyes on the half-peeled carrot.

"About two days ago," began Uvogin, "Nobunaga and I were in a different country when news about the ham hit us."

" _Literally_ ," Nobunaga chimed in.

* * *

One evening at the beach, Uvogin and Nobunaga were strolling down the boardwalk. Among the shuttered shops and chained doors, the two were the only souls in the area. They filled the empty space around them with giddy snickers.

"That was worth waiting four hours for the amusement park to close," said Nobunaga while scratching his chest contentedly.

"Right?!" Uvogin responded jovially, grinning like an alligator. "I'm sure you're glad I stopped you from wrecking the Ferris Wheel's axle."

Nobunaga stopped scratching. "It _was_ the part that controlled the Wheel's movement, wasn't it? Sure, I had the wrong idea on how to loosen the Wheel, but I _hinted_ ya toward the right idea, didn't I? Sorta."

"Mm, yeah, I guess I should give you credit for that." Uvogin paused to sip from his can of beer. "No one'll ever ride a Ferris Wheel as fast as we did!"

"And no one can ever ride it after us. It's about one more spin from popping off its support posts."

"Obviously, we can't stay here any longer. Wonder where's our next visit-- _Ack!_ "

After rounding a corner towards the town, Uvogin and Nobunaga's faces were bombarded by newspaper pages. When they peeled the pages off, they saw a woman dragging behind her a red wagon stacked with newspapers. The bindings that should be crossed over the stack had come undone and the topmost sheaf had opened, causing there to be a trail of papers on the empty street. Before the two could alert her of her losses (not that they ever intended to), the woman vanished around a corner.

"What is this?" questioned Nobunaga at the newspaper page. One-third of the sheet was occupied by a photo of what appeared to be a tree log. "Huh. This is actually a ham, not a log. 'As sweet as maple syrup'? I'm intrigued."

"Is it called the Maple Stump Ham?" asked Uvogin.

"Yeah. How d'you know?"

Uvogin showed Nobunaga his page. "I got the date and venue of the party that'll display it. It's happening two days from now, on the other side of the continent."

Nobunaga pointed a finger gun at the page. "That's our next visit."

A low rumble sounded behind them. When they turned around, they saw a golden dirigible descending unto the beach. From the dirigible, once parked, were some fellows in black suits and shades, and an inebriated elderly tourist plus his trophy wife. Uvogin pointed a finger gun at that scene.

"And _that's_ our transport," he stated.

After leaving bloodstains on the sand, Uvogin and Nobunaga boarded the dirigible, which rocked violently on the sand and while lifting off as if struggling to carry its occupants' weights. In actuality, there were more staff inside that the two had to take care of, and the pilot attempted to help by providing an unstable fighting arena. Moments later, more uniformed individuals were tossed out of the dirigible's door. The dirigible flew smoothly after the door was shut.

"This will always be comfortable than a hot air balloon," remarked Nobunaga, the current pilot of this dirigible.

"I like hot air balloons though," said Uvogin. "The baskets are cozy."

"Sure, but not when there's, like, _six_ other people inside."

"Okay, yeah, I agree."

The dirigible's switchboard came with a screen that displayed a map of the world. Uvogin used that screen to discern the dirigible's distance and direction from the the destination.

"Northeast, seven thousand kilometres." Uvogin counted on his fingers. "That's about an eight-hour flight."

"I think you mean," said Nobunaga, haughtily, "an eight-hour _nap_." A pause, his pupils sweeping the switchboard's many functions. "Shoot. Call Shal. I don't know how to set autopilot."

"Don't worry, I know," Uvogin assured him, gently nudging Nobunaga out of the way. After a moment, he took his hairy hands off the switchboard. "Alright. _Now_ , we can take that eight-hour nap, or technically, _sleep_ , since its already almost nighttime."

The two men laid on the dirigible's cool floor. Nobunaga laid on his back, his legs slightly apart and his arms folded on his stomach. Meanwhile, Uvogin laid on his side, using an arm like a pillow. Steady breathing merged with the sound of machinery, growing quieter as the men relaxed. At last, both men achieved silence.

Nobunaga's eyes opened instantly. "Can a dirigible land while on autopilot?"

Uvogin's eyes opened instantly too. "Shoot. We gotta call Shal."

Now, the men were sitting up, opposite each other. Uvogin held his smartphone between them. He had activated the loudspeaker.

 _"Shalnark's phone,"_ mumbled a deep voice from the other line.

"Franklin?" said Uvogin. "That you?"

_"Yes."_

"Why're you answering Shal's phone?" asked Nobunaga. "Where's he?"

 _"Restroom."_ A lengthy, reverberating yawn. _"Ah. He's back."_ Franklin's voice grew faint. _"Uvogin and Nobunaga's calling you."_

Some clattering noises, and Shalnark's prepubescent voice sounded. _"What's up?"_

Upon receiving Uvogin's query about whether dirigibles can land automatically, Shalnark instructed the men to the switchboard. Since Uvogin was holding the phone, Nobunaga had to be the one to work the switchboard.

 _"This is a high-quality dirigible, right?"_ questioned Shalnark before answering himself, _"Then, it should have an auto-land option alongside its autopilot function."_

"Mm-hmm, right," replied Nobunaga. "There is."

_"Input your airport of choice and the dirigible will know to land there."_

"Done." Nobunaga yawned. "Alright. G'night--"

_"Eh? So early? I still wanna talk! Stay on the line a bit longer, will ya?"_

"Oh, I'unno," said Nobunaga, smirking as he leaned closer to the phone.

"What's the magic word, Shal?" asked Uvogin, also smirking.

_"Pleeeeeee--"_

_"Shal,"_ interrupted Franklin, so quietly he could be mistaken for exhaling, _"talk outside, okay?"_

 _"Okay,"_ replied Shalnark. Some clattering noises later, he continued, _"We've been acknowledged by society."_

"Oh?" said Uvogin, exchanging intrigued glances with Nobunaga.

_"They've come to realize that thefts involving mass murder are definitely committed by a specific troupe."_

"The Spiders," Nobunaga concluded smugly.

_"They called us the 'Phantom Troupe'."_

Nobunaga's eyes widened. "What? No! We're supposed to be the Spiders!"

 _"Yeah, well,"_ Shalnark spoke with a chuckle, _"I guess we're too good at hiding our identities. The masses are more fascinated by our phantom-like mystery than frightened by our violence as they would be of spiders."_

"So, what you're saying, Shal," said Uvogin while rubbing his chin, "is that I should be more violent. That way, people will be more scared and think of spiders."

"You're plenty violent already, Uvo. I don't know how you can be more," deadpanned Nobunaga. "Honestly, if you could, people'll probably think of gorillas, instead of spiders."

Uvogin side-eyed Nobunaga. "First of all, Nobu, that is _racist_. Second, I think I resemble a bear better."

Shalnark laughed. _"You don't even have faith in your own plan! But maybe it might work if Machi did it. She'd definitely refuse though, since that means revealing her abilities to the public. Oh! A better idea! We should draw a spider with the blood of our victims before escaping!"_

Nobunaga stepped away from the conversation for a moment and returned holding a notepad and marker. He hastily scribbled something on a page before showing it to Uvogin. Nobunaga had doodled a spider, which resembled a hairy black snowman. Uvogin snorted. He passed the phone to Nobunaga so he could have a turn drawing. His result seemed more like a wrapped candy.

"Yeeeeeah," Nobunaga enunciated doubtfully, "not a better idea."

The conversation lasted until the end of the first hour. Afterwards, Uvogin and Nobunaga returned to the floors to sleep. They awoke at the beginning of the final hour, and spent the remaining time until the dirigible's automated landing eating breakfast.

"I saw your spider in my dream," Uvogin told Nobunaga while the two chomped on buttered rolls. "Its legs were wiggling like tentacles. Then, it broke off into three sections that looked like _my_ spider, and surrounded me. Actually, it was a nightmare because I had to fight them and I _lost_."

Nobunaga frowned. "I didn't think our drawings were _that_ ugly." He shoved one last roll into his mouth and washed it down with apple cider. "We've arrived."

The dirigible was descending vertically unto a building. Once it had parked itself on the flat roof, the dirigible's engine was switched off. The roof was a restricted area. Thus, Nobunaga cut a hole in it, big enough to accommodate Uvogin, who helped discreetly remove the part of the roof that was cut. Directly under the roof was the video security room. Nobunaga killed everyone in the room before anyone could sound the alarm.

"Hey, leave one for me!" said Uvogin as he dropped into the room, which shuddered briefly upon his arrival.

"Too late." Nobunaga's statement was punctuated by his sword sliding back inside the scabbard. "Besides, in a cramp room like this, you might wreck the tech while rampaging." He tore a scrap off the uniform of a nearby corpse and used it to clean a bloodied monitor.

Uvogin lent a hand, ripping a whole shirt off a corpse. Buttons splashed in the blood pools. "You're absolutely right," he told Nobunaga. "That's why I said 'leave _one_ for me.'"

Of the thirty-two monitors in the room, only four showed what Uvogin and Nobunaga wanted: the ballroom that will present the Maple Stump Ham, the kitchen where the ham will first be kept, and the lengthy hallway between those two locations. Rich, expensively dressed guests mingled around the spacious ballroom, contrasting the uniformed severs and chefs packed tightly in the kitchen where the ham was recently covered in a cloche.

Nobunaga observed the screens while mumbling strategies into his hands. At the same time, Uvogin moved to a wall that carried no monitors. The latter picked up a headless corpse and, using the bloody neck stump like a big marker, drew a spider on the wall. He tried to do it differently from the previous night's doodles, focusing so much he was squinting and stuck out his tongue. The body was two sections, the first smaller than the second. Then, he drew eight legs and gave the head two pincers. Soon after he finished, gravity took hold of the fresh blood, making the legs longer and droopier until the spider became an octopus. With body he used to draw, Uvogin frantically smeared his doodle into something shapeless before following Nobunaga out of the room.

They walked briskly to the staircase. There, they bounced from railing to railing until they reached the targeted floor, placing themselves right inside the lengthy hallway shown in the security monitors. From the kitchen's end of the hallway jogged a waiter pushing a cart. In his hurry, the waiter paid the men in the hallway no heed. Even if he did, he would never be able to dodge Uvogin's swift palm. The waiter's neck bent far enough to touch his back, and then he collapsed.

Nobunaga grasped the golden cloche atop the cart. When he lifted it, the Maple Stump Ham was revealed. Beside the dish was a cleaver and a two-pronged fork. Uvogin used those to daintily slice a piece of ham before tearing that piece in two with his bare fingers. He passed a half to Nobunaga and they ate simultaneously.

Nobunaga's eyes widened. "Oh my _God_. That was the sweetest meat I have ever tasted."

Uvogin scrutinized the ham. "Did they cure this with sugar instead of salt? Can you even _do_ that?"

Static sounded nearby. When Uvogin and Nobunaga looked down, they spotted the walkie-talkie hooked to the dead waiter's belt. _"Hey, where's the ham?"_ spoke the walkie-talkie.

Nobunaga pulled a folded sheet of grease paper out of his hakama. "Wrap the ham in this," he ordered Uvogin. After the sheet was taken from his hand, Nobunaga retreated to the staircase with the dead waiter.

The moment Uvogin was finished bundling the ham, Nobunaga returned carrying the waiter's dismembered head. An ascot was tied tightly around the neck, stopping the blood flow. After the head was placed on the dish, Uvogin covered it under the cloche. Then, it was back to the staircase, and back to bouncing from railing to railing, except they were going upwards this time, away from the headless waiter splayed out on a flight of stairs. Hardly a minute past by the time they were inside the security camera room again.

In four monitors, they witnessed as a waitress burst through the kitchen's swinging doors and jogged to the abandoned cart. She spared a moment to look left and right for the previous waiter before pushing the cart towards the ballroom. In the middle of the ballroom, there was a spotlight, shining upon an emptiness courteously provided by the guests. A pathway between the spotlight and the entrance was also created, allowing the waitress to push the cart under the spotlight unobstructed.

Uvogin snickered when the waitress gripped the cloche's handle. "Here it comes!" he whispered to Nobunaga, who was also snickering.

The cloche was raised. Wide-eyed, open-mouthed horror appeared on the waitress' and the guests' faces. Around the spotlight, guests tumbled backwards in shock, knocking the guests behind them like dominoes. Uvogin and Nobunaga chortled heartily.

Nobunaga tapped the monitor. "Look. This row managed to fall all the way to the wall!"

Uvogin snorted. "It's just a head. People can be _so_ over-dramatic."

After that, they hopped out the hole in the ceiling and returned to their dirigible, to begin a new journey away from the building.

* * *

"...and then, Danchou mass-texted us all that he needed two Spiders in this town, discounting Paku and Machi because he'd been dragging them around for some time already, and Nobu and I were like, 'Hey, we're close to that. We can make it in a night.' And then Danchou was like, 'Great. See you there. Also, lemme tell you about this cute kid I picked up.' And now we're here."

With a spoonful of stew, Uvogin's (and Nobunaga's) tale came to an end.

Kurapika turned to Chrollo. "'Cute kid'?"

"Yeah," replied Chrollo, leaving his spoon inside his bowl to tousle Kurapika's hair, "you're adorable."

Kurapika giggled shyly. Soon afterwards, however, he was bearing a small frown. "So, you steal, and kill, for fun."

"Do you hate that?" asked Chrollo, his hand still on Kurapika's head and their eyes locked.

Kurapika drew his eyebrows close, going from solemn to stern. "I had to learn the outside world's laws, so I know what you do is illegal, but..." His expression softened. "I want to stay with you, so I'll just... _deal_ with it."

Chrollo smiled and released Kurapika. "Thank you for being so tolerating."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maple Stump Ham is just a cringey placeholder. If you have any better names, please tell me.


	5. A pair of Fun, Noisy Uncles (part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurapika gets a phone call from Pairo!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first, the most annoying part of writing this story was the Piko. I even considered killing him off. However, once I started treating the Piko like an actual character instead of a mode of transport, he was a lot more fun to write.
> 
> Also, I want to talk about how writing these chapters tend to be. Basically, I would have the chapter's main plots in mind when I write the first draft, and each time, without fail, I have to delete what I wrote and start over because the story seems to rushed. The second draft will look much smoother. Most of the time, it's only a portion of the chapter that I delete. Occasionally, I have to delete the whole thing. I would experience blocks from time to time, and would have to take breaks, but the best way to deal with a block is to write and make mistakes until the correct sentence appears. Then, the story will flow smoothly.

On the second day in town, Kurapika spent it with just his Piko, at Chrollo's request.

"Today's our meeting with our employers," Chrollo had told Kurapika. "The transaction is to happen in this barn, but the time of it was never confirmed. For your safety, you should stay out late."

Kurapika giggled when he responded, "This is the first time I've been advised to come home late for my safety."

"Good for you," remarked Chrollo, smiling. "Now, off you go."

After breakfast, Kurapika mounted his Piko, whom he then ordered to sprint to the town. Kurapika yanked the harnesses upon arrival, making the Piko slow to a halt so he could descend. The two of them proceeded to explore the town, side-by-side. The Piko faced the road with a half-lidded gaze while Kurapika looked left and right, stifling snickers at the same time.

"It's just as Uvogin said," Kurapika whispered to his Piko in his mother tongue, "everyone's got a little trail of aura leaking from the top of their heads!"

The Piko blinked slowly.

"Ah, right. I suppose you can't see aura, or even _know_ what it is."

Another slow blink, this time with eye contact.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I'm calling you an idiot."

The Piko turned his head towards Kurapika and leant closer.

Kurapika's eyes widened. "What? You've always known about aura?"

The Piko nodded before straightening his neck and turning back to the road.

"Well, animals _do_ have to be perceptive to survive in the wild," Kurapika mumbled to himself while rubbing his chin contemplatively. "Hey, wait-- _NO!_ " he then shrieked when his Piko unexpectedly veered off the path to a fruit stall and tried to nab an orange.

Five minutes later, the two of them were walking down the road again. This time, Kurapika was peeling an orange while his Piko side-eyed him eagerly.

"I know that oranges don't grow in Lukso, but I also know you should've been trained better than this," said Kurapika as he tossed a bare orange in the air and an orange peel in the 'organics' trashcan.

The Piko caught the orange within his beak. Kurapika could hear the orange being kicked around by the Piko's tongue.

They walked until the town park was in sight. It was an expansive spread of land divided into grass, sand, mud, and pond. Kurapika led his Piko to the grass section.

"You can rest now," said Kurapika to his Piko.

His Piko looked down at him, and slowly blinked again as he opened his beak, which was now empty.

Kurapika narrowed his eyes. "Oh, so now I have to _pay_ you to be my backrest?"

The Piko nodded slightly, prompting an exasperated sigh from Kurapika.

"You're gonna regret this," grumbled Kurapika as he produced a second orange from his sling bag. "I only bought two. This is the last one, and you could've saved it for later."

The Piko closed and opened his mouth twice.

Kurapika's irises turned scarlet. "Don't try to shoplift again! It was _very_ embarrassing!" He noticed his flushed reflection in the Piko's eyes and quickly bowed his head. " _None_ of the other animals on the road did that," he mumbled at his hands, which were carrying a carrying an orange that had been peeled like a pistachio. He raised the orange to beak-level. "Here."

The Piko grabbed the orange with the corners of his beak before taking it into his mouth completely. After that, he sat down on the grass. Kurapika joined him in the next moment, cozying up to the feathers. Once he was comfortable, Kurapika proceeded to take the newspaper he had bought from the shop beside the fruit stall out of his sling bag.

"I've confirmed this town isn't known for its medical facilities," said Kurapika as he opened the newspaper, "so I'm going to rely on the international news for doctor recommendations."

Despite saying that, the first thing Kurapika read was the article about Uvogin and Nobunaga's recent heist. Of course, their names were never mentioned, but neither were the names of the security team and server they murdered to attain the ham, which was the star of the article. The article did bring up the bloodbath in the security room, however, as well as the possibility that the Phantom Troupe had paid a visit.

"Where could the Maple Stump Ham be now?" Kurapika read aloud before taking a bite out of the Maple Stump Ham sandwich he had prepared early this morning for brunch. "Well, enough about them." He flipped the page. "Time to find doctor recommendations."

Two minutes of speed-reading later, Kurapika found what he wanted. A doctors' convention will be happening in a week's time. The venue was within a city in another country. Kurapika dug into his sling bag, retrieving a pen. He circled the name, time, and venue of the convention in blue ink and held the page in front of his Piko.

"We're going here next," stated Kurapika. "Suppose Uvogin and Nobunaga still have their dirigible, do you get airsick?"

The Piko swallowed audibly.

"Looks like we'll have to trek," Kurapika concluded. He retracted the page, humming at it contemplatively. "Hmm, I wonder what're the chances of Chrollo going the same direction. Finding Pairo a doctor is top priority, but I want to learn more about Nen." He observed the aura around his hands. It was thinner than earlier and evaporating. Kurapika closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened his eyes to find his aura much firmer. "However, the Four Principles don't seem that hard to learn on my own, so if Chrollo won't follow us, it won't be a big problem. It'll just... be only the two of _us_ again," he exhaled that last sentence. Then, he noticed his Piko's narrowed gaze. "Not that I hate your company," Kurapika added hastily. "It's just... Chrollo's interesting."

The Piko snorted.

Kurapika furrowed his brow. "Why're you disagreeing? He bought you hay!" A pause. "He _did_ pay, right? For your hay and the groceries?"

The Piko rolled his eyes.

"Okay, so I don't completely trust him," Kurapika admitted, "but at least he's not the _worst_ person I've ever encountered, and he's got really interesting friends."

The Piko opened his mouth. Out came the tinny melody of a phone's ringtone.

"I never bought a third orange," Kurapika hissed at his Piko as he dug into his bag for his cell phone. Once he found it, he flipped it open and answered happily, "Hi, Pairo!"

 _"Hi, Kurapika!"_ replied Pairo, just as happily. _"How's it going?"_

"It's been...chaotic. I made some new friends."

_"Really? That's great, Kurapika! Tell me about them!"_

"They're a lot older. Most of them are adults." Kurapika whispered his next sentence, even though nobody else in the park, other than the Piko, knew the Kurta's language. "And they know about my Scarlet Eyes, and don't mind at all!"

Pairo gasped. _"Who are these people?"_

Kurapika covered the receiver and moved his phone away from his face, revealing his anxious smile.

 _"Kurapika?"_ Pairo called out innocently.

"Do I tell him?" Kurapika wondered aloud, without being loud. "He might disapprove, but I'd _never_ lie to Pairo..."

 _"Kurapika~?"_ Pairo called out again, in a more singsong tone. _"You there~?"_

Kurapika lifted the phone back to his ear. "I've befriended criminals."

_"...Eh?"_

"They're both thieves and murderers." Kurapika paused, and unfortunately for him, Pairo stayed quiet too, so the former had to continue the conversation, "I know this didn't happen in D-Hunter, but I don't hate their company. They've been quite... _mostly_...nice."

Pairo was still silent, meaning it was his turn to have his name called out.

"Um, Pairo?" Kurapika spoke nervously. "You haven't hung up from disapproval, have you...?"

 _"No, I haven't,"_ responded Pairo. _"I just went deep in thought."_

"Is that so? What were you thinking?"

_"I was thinking, you don't sound like you're being taken hostage."_

"No, I'm not. I'm following them of my own volition."

_"At the same time, you were quite hesitant to praise your new acquaintances. Did they hurt you?"_

Kurapika rolled his eyes. "Considering their standards, they'd just call it teasing."

 _"Kurapika,"_ said Pairo, very seriously, enough to make Kurapika flinch, " _ **did they hurt you?** "_

"Yeah," Kurapika admitted. He flinched again when he heard Pairo inhale sharply. "But it was nothing severe! Or particularly malicious! And I've gained from it."

_" **Gain?** What did you gain?"_

"Well, for starters," Kurapika began with an arm down his bag. His hand emerged grasping an eyeball encased in formaldehyde. "Our ancestor's Scarlet Eye."

_"...It's authentic?"_

"As far as I can tell." Kurapika stuffed the eye inside his pocket. "And I learnt about Nen."

_"Nen?"_

"I've been meaning to tell you about it since yesterday. It's really cool!" Kurapika spoke excitedly. "Basically, every living thing has life energy flowing in and out of them. The art of controlling that energy is called Nen, and you can do so much with it! I've only started learning how to keep it from flowing away from my body, but if I keep training, I can learn how to use Nen to enhance my physical ability and even heal injuries. I could _heal_ you, Pairo!"

_"That...sounds amazing. However, if everyone has life energy, that means I can learn Nen and heal myself, no?"_

Kurapika deflated a little. "That's true," he said, a lot more calmly. "It won't be easy, though. Normally, to even start to see life energy, you have to meditate for a year or more until your aura nodes open. I didn't have to because I was attacked with Nen and my aura nodes opened right after that. By the way, that attack was during a _safe_ sparring session," Kurapika rapidly explained the second Pairo so much as breathed at the receiver. "Also, after that session, I found out that my aura nodes had been opening when my eyes are red and closing automatically once they're back to normal, and I believe its the reason to the increase in strength we receive whenever our eyes turn red."

A moment of silence, and then Pairo said, _"That's quite a revelation. It sounds **really** plausible."_

"Why are you talking you don't totally believe me?"

_"Because if you were right, don't you think it's strange we've found no record of such information?"_

"Mm, I think there is. I said Nen is normally learnt through meditation, didn't I? It might explain why meditation is part of our culture."

Pairo chuckled. _"I suppose we never should have stopped practicing meditation to play."_

"Well, it's not like we were doing it correctly to begin with," Kurapika replied irritably. "I mean, no one else in the clan could use Nen, probably cuz' we weren't taught to meditate to open our aura nodes."

 _"True. I totally believe that."_ A momentary pause. _"I'm at the last minute, so we're gonna have to wrap up quick."_

Kurapika nodded. "Okay."

_"I don't trust your new... **'** **friends'**. I think you should separate from them as soon as you can."_

"Pairo, you haven't even _met_ them."

_"But **you** have, and you haven't actually mentioned a single redeeming quality about them beyond being accepting of your Scarlet Eyes. The fact that you chose to focus on their shadier qualities makes it obvious that you, too, doubt it's a good idea to be hanging around them!"_

"That's... That's true," Kurapika stammered. "I can't deny it. What you've said is true." He exhaled. "Well, it's not like we promised to stay together. I was the one who asked if I could tag along."

 _"Sorry for making you leave the first outside-friends you've made,"_ said Pairo, his tone slightly remorseful.

"It's fine, Pairo. I know you mean well." Kurapika smirked, speaking the following words cheekily, "Unless you're acting out of _jealousy_."

 _"'Kay,_ _bye!"_ stated Pairo, suddenly jovial. _"Off to meditate my aura nodes open now!"_

Kurapika laughed. "Bye-bye! Don't dodge my question the next week!" He shut the flip phone and dropped it into his bag before leaning back on his Piko with a groan. "Welp. Guess I'm saying goodbye to Chrollo tonight."

* * *

Back at the not-so-haunted abandoned barn, there was only Chrollo, Uvogin, and a small radio. Chrollo was seated on a crate, owlishly staring at the radio which was placed in the wide space between his feet. Uvogin, too, was watching the radio, albeit less enthused as Chrollo and also while lying in more relaxed position on his side.

"So, did you get all that?" Uvogin asked Chrollo, who nodded in response. "Damn. And you've only had a night to read the kid's dictionary. What were they talking about, Danchou?"

"I had a night and three hours before lunch yesterday to study his heavily-annotated Kurta-to-Common dictionary," Chrollo corrected Uvogin before answering his question. "Kurapika was talking about us and Nen, and apparently, his friend, Pairo, is onto us. He's managed to to convince Kurapika to get away from us."

Uvogin's eyes widened. He sat up. "That's... _bad_ , isn't it? That's not part of the plan." A low buzz sounded, prompting Uvogin to take his phone out of his pocket. "What is it, Nobu?...Huh." He lowered his phone and told Chrollo, "Kurapika's practicing saying goodbye to you, Danchou. He plans to tell you tonight." After Chrollo nodded again, Uvogin spoke to Nobunaga, "Danchou said to keep watching. Yeah, later."

Chrollo held his chin contemplatively. "Kurapika is aware that he shouldn't be around us at all, but he stayed out of curiosity. To retain his curiosity, I've employed my Spiders and Nen, and to prevent suspicion, I act a bit meanly to Kurapika at intervals to reverse-psychology him into thinking he's following us of his own accord rather than because I'm actually inviting him."

"No offense, Danchou, but that sounded convoluted as hell," Uvogin deadpanned. "Why don't you just invite him normally? _I_ would've, if I had been the one in the alley."

"Because he would've declined," replied Chrollo, in a matter-of-fact tone. "When he killed those men in that alley, his eyes were red and he'd flown off the handle. By the time I approached him, his eyes were back to brown and he wouldn't do anything other than guard. I knew then, under normal circumstances, Kurapika won't be a criminal, not without my help."

" _'Help'_ , eh?" Uvogin uttered with an eyebrow raised. "So, how're we 'helping' him back on our track?"

"Well, Kurapika seems to be resentful of us, at least subconsciously, for being mean to him time and time again, so to remedy that, we need to be really kind to him." Chrollo grinned deviously. " _Tonight._ "

* * *

Kurapika chose to return to the barn at midnight, on his Piko. He laid on his saddle so he could admire the night sky. There was quite a lot of clouds tonight, but the yellowish gibbous moon dodged them all.

"Do you think I could see the moon through the hole in the barn's roof?" Kurapika asked his Piko, whom he realized had come to a halt. He sat up. "Why did you stop? The barn's still a ways to go."

Indeed, the barn was in sight and the size of Kurapika's palm from where the Piko stood. Kurapika whipped the reins, but the Piko remained rooted.

"Do you... _sense_ something off about the barn?"

The Piko nodded.

Kurapika swallowed nervously before sliding off the saddle. Upon landing, he took a deep breath and exhaled lengthily. His aura halved in size. He took another deep breath. After exhaling again, his aura retreated into his body completely.

"Zetsu achieved," Kurapika whispered to himself. "Hide somewhere safe," he ordered his Piko, who pecked at his shawl instead of obeying. "No, I want to see what's happening inside."

The Piko did not release his shawl or stop staring at him.

"I'll be fine," Kurapika assured him, gently tugging his shawl out from between his Piko's beak.

At last, the Piko trotted away. Once Kurapika felt his Piko was far enough, he turned to the barn. He first took several steps to the side until he was beyond the entrance's frame. Then, he sprinted towards the barn as stealthily as he could. He was a meter from the barn when he shuddered, as though he had dipped his whole body into water, except this sensation was too light to be water but was not plain air either. 

Kurapika gasped. "This is aura!"

Suddenly, the barn's wall burst. Kurapika jerked to the left just in time to lose a few blond strands to a bullet. The second bullet came immediately. Kurapika dodged this one jumping back. It punctured his skirt and nothing else. When he no longer felt the pressure of unfamiliar aura on his body, the shooting paused, replaced by hurried footsteps heading to the barn's front exit. Kurapika ran.

"I'll take left, you take right!" a man yelled.

Kurapika was currently behind the barn. In preparation for the oncoming pincer attack, he drew his wooden swords. However—

"What if they're Nen users?" he asked himself. "Do I stand a chance?"

Kurapika stiffened upon hearing increasingly loud footsteps. He looked left, then right, and finally at the barn, at which he squinted like the molding wall was a blackboard carrying a difficult Mathematics problem. The next moment, his aura spiked, going from thin and wispy (because his concentration on Zetsu was weakening) to _explosive._ By the time the two people looking for him arrived behind the barn, Kurapika had already leapt to edge of barn's roof, and was employing Zetsu again.

"Traces of aura," stated a woman—the second of the two people—at the spot Kurapika leapt from. "They were here not too long ago."

Kurapika quietly crawled away from the edge before his pursuers thought to look up. He climbed to the roof's ridge, kneeling on it so he could loom over the hole on the other side. He was careful to avoid leaning forward too much, lest he casted a shadow inside the barn and give away his position.

"Clearly, we shouldn't drag this meeting out any longer," said Chrollo from within the barn. "Why don't you just take _these_ and leave?"

"Like hell I'm letting you get away that easily!" responded an angry, thuggish voice. "This is some kind of trick, isn't it?! To make us let you keep the _eye!_ "

At the sound of 'eye', Kurapika slipped his hand into his pocket. His fingertips brushed against the craggy texture of formaldehyde for a moment before his whole arm was abruptly yanked behind him. Kurapika turned back, voluntarily and involuntarily, to see his pursuers towering over him, the woman being the one taking hold of him.

"What's in your pocket, kid?" asked the man, who was currently reaching his big, threatening hand towards Kurapika.

Kurapika grasped one of his wooden swords and whipped the other at the man's hand. The man yelped as the sword rebounded from his thumb's lowermost joint. Kurapika then jabbed the sword in his hand into the woman's wrist, forcing her fingers to spring open and release Kurapika so gravity could take him next, pulling him off the ridge and into the hole in the roof.

" _Pairo!_ " Kurapika cried out as he fell.

It was Chrollo who manifested in the air, though, to wrap his arms around Kurapika, and the latter did not hesitate to hug the former tightly until they safely touched down. A second later, something landed with a loud crack. It was not Kurapika's wooden swords, which the owner could see was still in his grasp. Kurapika immediately turned around. His eyes bugged out upon seeing his ancestor's Scarlet Eye on the ground, its formaldehyde shell bearing a fracture.

"A- _ha!_ " said the thug who was disparaging Chrollo earlier. Behind him was another man, pointing a gun at Chrollo and co. "I knew you were hiding the eye somewhere!" The thug looked up. "Was it on the roof or with the kid?!"

Kurapika's pursuers descended into the barn. It was the woman who answered the thug, "It was definitely in the kid's pocket."

The thug grinned wide. He bent down to pick up the eye. "And now it'll be in mine— _Ah._ " His grin crooked slightly when the formaldehyde casing came apart midair and the eyeball dropped on the dirty ground, soiled irrevocably.

"NO!" Kurapika cried, lurching in Chrollo's arms.

Chrollo tightened his hold and put a hand over Kurapika's eyes before nonchalantly stating, "The eye is no one's now."

"Well, whose damn fault is that?!" the thug snapped. "You should've just handed it over in the beginning!"

Kurapika pushed aside Chrollo's hand just in time to witness the thug angrily stomp his foot upon the Scarlet Eye. It popped like fish egg, a bit of goo seeping out from the shoe. Chrollo's hand moved over Kurapika's eyes again, but Kurapika headbutted it away. He struggled rabidly, snarling profanities in his mother tongue while his eyes flared scarlet. Covering Kurapika's eyes was an impossible task if Chrollo wanted to restrain him properly.

The man with the gun aimed at Kurapika, clicking the hammer. The thug raised his arm in the gunman's way.

"What the heck? Not only were you hiding the Scarlet Eye, you had a fresh, _live_ pair with you?"

" _DON'T CALL ME THAT!_ " Kurapika roared in the Common Language and slung his wooden swords at the thug. His swords spun like a Ferris Wheel set ablaze by his Nen. 

The thug smirked. He swatted aside the Ferris-Wheeling wooden swords as though he were killing a fly, except his fly swatter was none other than the arm he raised earlier, shrouded in extensive, jagged aura. The swords clattered unto the earth, in splinters.

"C'mere!" the thug yelled, charging at Kurapika with his weaponized arm.

Chrollo jumped, taking Kurapika into the air with him. "Deal with them," he ordered Uvogin and Nobunaga before he went through the hole in the roof.

Now, Kurapika was back where he was two minutes ago—on the roof's ridge, being manhandled by an adult.

"Unhand me!" he spoke shrilly as he kicked and flailed in effort to escape Chrollo. "UNHAND ME!"

"Promise me you won't try to jump back inside?" said Chrollo, sounding half-hopeful, half-sarcastic.

Kurapika's struggling reduced to heavy breathing. When he nodded, Chrollo let his feet touch the roof. Kurapika instantly made a break for the hole. With a sigh, Chrollo grabbed Kurapika by the sides of his waist and lifted him in the air again.

"Kurapika," said Chrollo firmly, "there are Nen users inside, and skilled ones at that. What makes you think you can take them on? Aside from blind rage."

Kurapika shot a Scarlet glare at Chrollo. "It is my obligation as a Kurta to _slay_ those who disrespect us!"

"Is that actually part of your culture or just your anger speaking?" Chrollo asked the Scarlet Eyes, which narrowed threateningly in response. "Okay, okay. How about this?" Chrollo stepped closer to the hole, where fighting noises could be heard. "Let Kurapika kill the leader!"

"Way ahead of you, Danchou!" Nobunaga shouted back in a jolly tone.

Chrollo turned to Kurapika. The latter breathed in and out heavily until his Scarlet Eyes had dulled to brown. When that happened, Chrollo sat down on the roof's ridge, and sat Kurapika beside him. He wrapped an arm around Kurapika's shoulders in a half-friendly, half-restrictive manner.

"Was it a name you shouted when you fell?" questioned Chrollo, restarting the conversation. "Pairo?"

Kurapika nodded. "Yeah. My best friend," he replied with a smile.

"Was he always there in your time of need?"

Another nod. "Yeah." A sadder smile. "No matter how much it hurt him."

"I heard Pairo is the friend you're finding a doctor for." Chrollo continued after Kurapika nodded again, "Is it because he got hurt helping you?"

Kurapika stiffened, before nodding one more time.

Chrollo hugged him a little tighter. "I'm sorry I couldn't phrase that more delicately. Can I know what happened?"

"I was careless," Kurapika began quietly, solemnly. "I'd stepped on an unstable cliff. If Pairo hadn't taken my hand then, I would've fallen to my death. But in order to save me, he overexerted his body." His voice become louder, cracking. "Now, his eyes and legs are growing weaker every day. The village healers only know how to slow the symptoms, not cure. That's why I had to leave!" he shouted. "I need to find Pairo a doctor! So—" A nervous swallow, and then he stammered loudly, "I have to say goodbye, Chrollo. I'm sorry," he added in a quiet, solemn voice.

Chrollo chuckled. "Don't be," he said, patting Kurapika's shoulder twice. "It's definitely safer for you to be away from us. Where do you plan to go after this?"

Kurapika rummaged his pocket (not the one that previously housed a Scarlet Eye). From it, he produced a newspaper clipping, folded into a neat rectangle before Kurapika unfolded it for Chrollo to see the words he circled in blue.

"I'm going to visit this upcoming doctors' convention," Kurapika explained. "I'll trek to the venue on my Piko. We _have_ to trek because, apparently, my Piko gets airsick."

"You can take a train for some part of the journey," Chrollo suggested. "You should do it like us and sneak onto a moving freight train. You'll save money doing that."

"Yeah, I agree."

Under the roof's hole, it was silent until Uvogin shouted, "We're done! You can come in now!"

Chrollo took his arm off Kurapika, who wasted no time hopping through the hole. He landed lightly, his skirt and shawl puffing up for a second and slacking the next. Chrollo landed nearby, softly, his well-fitted shirt and trousers not puffing up at all.

In the barn, there were four broken, bloody bodies. Three laid on the ground in awkward, crumpled positions. One—the thug—was forced by Uvogin's single hand to kneel, coughing blood onto his legs.

"Here," Nobunaga said to Kurapika, lending him his gleamingly clean katana. "Go split that guy's brains."

Kurapika wrapped his small hands around the big hilt. He held the katana to the side of his face, forward horizontally. Then, he charged and drove the blade through the thug's heart. The thug coughed for the last time. During his last moments, he regarded Kurapika with shivering bloodshot eyes. Kurapika regarded him back with his hardened brown irises.

Further away, there was a shriek. Kurapika looked behind him. He saw Chrollo on one knee, looming over the female pursuer. He had a bloodied, blue orbed earring pinched between his fingers and she had a torn, bloodied earlobe.

"That's _mine!_ " she screeched at Chrollo, frantically grabbing at the earring that was out of her reach. "I won't give to you!"

"I don't care," Chrollo responded coldly before ripping off the other earring, also bloodied, blue and orb-shaped. The woman began to shriek again, but was muted by a Bentz knife to the throat. Her grabbing hand fell to the ground, limp.

Kurapika faced forward. He started to rescind the katana from the thug's body. When the katana was halfway out, something caught Kurapika's attention. That 'something' was the thug's bolo tie, which had a brooch carved to resemble a lion's head. One of the lion's eyes were blinking circularly, like camera shutters.

"What's the matter?" asked Uvogin, after Kurapika went still for a second.

Kurapika squinted at the bolo tie. "This brooch..."

Uvogin followed his eyes and tore the brooch off the thug's neck. He inspected with one eye. Closing his fist a little tighter cause the lion's head to crumble like a mask, revealing a small, complicated machine underneath. Uvogin frowned and closed his fist completely.

"Danchou!" he called out in a serious voice. "One of them wore a camera."

Chrollo looked at Uvogin with his eyes opened a little wider than usual. Suddenly, he was facing his buzzing smartphone. He slid his thumb across the screen.

 _"We saw you,"_ spoke a gravelly, heavily altered voice from the phone's loudspeaker. _"We'll find you. All **four** of you." _After that, they hung up.

Chrollo dropped the smartphone and crushed it to bits under his foot. He turned to his Spiders (plus Kurapika). "Outside," he told them, " _now_."

Kurapika finished extracting Nobunaga's katana, returned it, and quickly buried the squished Scarlet Eye with a splinter of swords as grave markers before exiting the barn. Chrollo had already begun giving orders.

"Change of plans. We're splitting up. We'll stand out less that way and we can easily take them on alone."

The Piko reappeared, causing Kurapika to halt quite a distance from Chrollo, Uvogin, and Nobunaga. Kurapika climbed onto the saddle, gaining the height to pet his Piko's beak affectionately. When he took hold of the reins, Kurapika noticed Chrollo approaching him.

"I'll be taking my leave now—"

"I'm going with you," Chrollo interrupted.

"Eh?"

"I'm not so callous that I'd let you travel alone after getting that call. I'll stay with you until you're strong enough to protect yourself."

" _But Pairo—!_ " Kurapika started strongly, but shut his mouth afterwards. His gaze went askance.

Chrollo moved into Kurapika's line of sight, to tell him, "I won't derail your travel plans, if that's what you're worried about."

"That's not it..." Kurapika mumbled. "It's just..." As he trailed off, his gaze continued to shift, landing on his Piko.

The Piko eyed Kurapika for a second, Chrollo for another, and back to Kurapika before snorting and shaking his head.

Chrollo tilted his head. He tried to translate the Piko's actions. "No, I shouldn't offer to protect Kurapika?"

Kurapika switched to his native language. "How can you call Chrollo suspicious?" he said to his Piko. "He just offered to protect me, to take responsibility for getting me involved in his crimes! He's being...really _kind_." He glanced at Chrollo, who raised an inquisitive eyebrow in response.

Kurapika broke eye contact again. However, after scooting to the front of the saddle, he looked at Chrollo and nodded slightly. Chrollo smiled. He climbed onto the Piko and sat behind Kurapika. Then, Kurapika whipped the reins lightly. The Piko, after one more snort, started galloping.

It was time for a new journey.

* * *

After waving goodbye to Kurapika, Uvogin and Nobunaga parted ways temporarily. They reunited in the woods where their first-class dirigible was parked. Once the dirigible was afloat, Uvogin made a phone call.

"Yo, Shal," he said. "Can you see Nobu?"

Nobunaga stood nearby, making funny faces at the camera from the lion head brooch.

 _"No,"_ answered Shalnark. _"I can only see his gums."_

Uvogin guffawed loudly. He handed the smartphone to Nobunaga.

"When you answered Danchou," began Nobunaga, "did _you_ answer Danchou? Or was that actually Franklin?"

 _"It **was** me!" _Shalnark confirmed. _"I used a voice changer! Besides, if that was actually Franklin's normal voice, then Kurapika would realize something's up when they meet, and Danchou's plan would be **wrecked!** "_

"Doesn't Danchou's plan already have some holes?" Nobunaga wondered aloud. "I mean, those buyers weren't even part of some big gang to begin with. _No one_ will hunt us down. I'm sure Kurapika is smart enough to eventually notice he's not in any danger."

_"Well, Danchou's **smarter**. I'm sure he's planned around that."_

"Honestly, I feel a little sorry for Kurapika," said Uvogin with an unsympathetic smile. "He's got no idea how tangled he is in Danchou's web."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it hardly sounds reasonable to be able to study and memorize a foreign language dictionary in less than 24 hours, but I didn't plan for Pairo's phone call until I wrote this.


	6. The Mother & Sulky Eldest Daughter (Again)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurapika and Chrollo run into Pakunoda and Machi while shopping for groceries and travelling equipment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Piko will be absent this whole chapter because (for the most part) he's at an animal pen.

On the way to the doctors' convention, Kurapika made good on his promise to teach Chrollo the Kurta's language. On Sunday, he started listing out the Kurta alphabet. By Tuesday, Chrollo had been taught most of the words, and on Wednesday, he learnt grammar and sentence construction. When Thursday came, Chrollo was fluent enough to hold a conversation with Kurapika in the latter's language while the two ventured a town for a place to have lunch.

"When I was learning the Common language," said Kurapika. "It took me a few weeks. But just you know!" he added hastily, earning a raised eyebrow from Chrollo. "I learned by referring to a dictionary while reading a book that was written in Common, meaning I learnt a new language in an unorthodox manner unlike you."

Chrollo smirked. "Right. So, how old were _you_ when you were fluent in your language?"

Kurapika glared at Chrollo for a second before facing forward, smirking too. "I was fluent the moment I was _born_."

"Oh- _kay_ ," replied Chrollo in a laughing, singsong tone.

"Danchou?"

Chrollo and Kurapika turned around. Behind them was Pakunoda, watching them with the same wide-eyed expression as they had.

"I _knew_ that was you," said Pakunoda, stepping closer to the two. "Well, knew that was your _voice_. Didn't know what you were saying."

"Hi, Pakunoda!" Kurapika greeted, waving excitedly. "I've been teaching Chrollo my birth language! And he's fluent now!"

Pakunoda smiled at him. "Really? Thank you." She turned to Chrollo, who spoke first.

"Are you here alone?" he asked.

"Technically, I'm still with Machi," replied Pakunoda, "but she's in the middle of a job right now. I've got her lunch." She held up a paper bag. At the same time, she checked her wristwatch. "She should be done soon. Wanna go see her?"

"What kind of job is Machi doing?" Kurapika questioned warily. "I don't wanna get caught up in another fight."

"'Another'?" Pakunoda said to Chrollo with an eyebrow raised.

Chrollo smiled cryptically. "I'll tell you about it later."

Pakunoda turned to Kurapika. "Machi has a side job of fixing up the wounded. It's usually quite low-risk."

"Oh. Then, I'd like to see her," said Kurapika.

Chrollo nodded. "Me too."

"Alright, then," said Pakunoda, walking ahead. "Let me show you the way." She first led Chrollo and Kurapika down a straight path. "So, what have you two been up to lately? Aside from the language lessons."

"Chrollo introduced me to Uvogin and Nobunaga," replied Kurapika, "and then they introduced me to Nen."

"I was wondering why your aura seemed so much more controlled now," said Pakunoda. "They didn't rough you up too hard, did they?"

"Nobunaga held back. How did you know we fought?"

"How else could you have learnt Nen so quickly? Unless you're a prodigy."

"I _could_ be a prodigy."

Pakunoda looked at Chrollo. "Is he?"

"He'd have to be if he was completely fluent in a language at birth," Chrollo told Pakunoda, making Kurapika stiffen and look down sheepishly.

Pakunoda snickered as she rounded a corner. "Prodigy or not, you have to work your Ten, Kurapika. It's going wispy at the edges."

Kurapika's pace slowed. He looked at his hands. Pakunoda was not lying. He squinted for a moment, relaxing his brow once his aura regained firmness. His pace sped up afterwards to round that corner. When Kurapika returned to Chrollo's side, the latter was talking another topic with Pakunoda.

"It devolved to a bloody disaster but we managed to keep the goods so—" Chrollo shrugged "—I'd say the transaction went pretty well. Also, it gave Kurapika his first taste of En."

"Nobunaga's En or...?"

"It was one of the buyer's escorts."

"I see."

"Excuse me," Kurapika piped up, and the adults looked at him. "What's En?"

Pakunoda looked at Chrollo, who was facing forward. She looked at Kurapika again. "En is an advanced Nen technique, where the user extends their aura to sense their surroundings. The range is usually spherical and measured by radius. When you enter someone's En, they will immediately know your exact position and distance from them."

"And it doesn't matter if I use Zetsu, does it?" Kurapika stated conclusively.

Pakunoda shook her head. "Nope."

"If I had known, maybe the transaction wouldn't've devolved into a bloody disaster." Kurapika sighed. "I think my Piko knew about En, or at least _sensed_ it. He wouldn't go any closer to the venue and even tried to stop me."

"Animals _do_ have sharp instincts," remarked Pakunoda. "Maybe you should listen to your Piko more."

"I already listen to him plenty," Kurapika grumbled. "Besides, if I listened to everything my Piko said, I wouldn't've let Chrollo follow me."

Pakunoda furrowed her brow. " _You're_ ," she said to Chrollo, placing her hand on his shoulder before nodding at Kurapika, "following _him?_ "

Chrollo smiled ironically. "The tables turned while you weren't looking."

"Interesting," Pakunoda remarked. Then, she removed her hand from Chrollo's shoulder and offered it to Kurapika when the three of them encountered a road packed with civilians. "You'd better stick close."

Kurapika grasped Pakunoda's hand tightly. "Okay!"

"So, where are you taking Danchou?" Pakunoda asked as she, Kurapika and Chrollo slipped through the cracks in the crowd.

"A doctor's convention," answered Kurapika. "Apparently, ten of the world's best doctors will be participating, and I plan to leave the convention with one of them!"

"Plus me," Chrollo nonchalantly chimed in.

"You're going to bring that doctor to Pairo, right?" guessed Pakunoda.

Kurapika nodded. "That doctor will be coming home with me."

Pakunoda glanced at Chrollo. "Plus Danchou?"

Kurapika did not respond because once again, his sling bag was snatched, and he promptly slipped out of Pakunoda's grasp to pursue the culprit. Although Kurapika never caught sight of the snatch-thief, he easily deduced the direction they went based on the people in the crowd. The snatch-thief had left a trail of shocked, pained, and irritated expressions. Following that trail led Kurapika to an alley with a turn. When he made that turn, Kurapika spotted the snatch-thief climbing a fire escape staircase, on the flight between the second and third landing. Kurapika promptly jumped on the railing of the first landing.

"Give me back my bag!" he yelled.

The thief frowned deeply before opening Kurapika's bag, taking out his blue skirt, and throwing it at him. That skirt was previously torn at the hem by some bullets. Kurapika had switched to a different outfit while mending his skirt. Currently, he was a wearing a blue sleeveless dress over a white long sleeve shirt and a white pair of pants, and although he had finished patching up his skirt, Kurapika was in no rush to change out of that.

Anyway, Kurapika caught his skirt easily. The thief threw Pairo's medical records next. The papers poured out of the envelop like large confetti, which Kurapika caught in his skirt as he leapt to the second landing's railing.

"Would you stop throwing my things?!" Kurapika seethed at the thief, who proceeded to take out his flip phone. "Especially not that!"

Kurapika jumped towards the thief, twirled midair, and roundhouse-kicked him in the face. The thief slammed into the metal steps. His grip on the flip phone loosened. To Kurapika's misfortune, however, his phone skidded across the third landing. He could only gawk as it fell off the edge. A faint crack sounded shortly afterwards, making Kurapika wince. Then, he glared at the thief, whose face sported a lengthy bruise.

"Demon!" the thief squawked while pointing shakily at Kurapika. "Red-eyed demon!"

Kurapika started to roll his eyes, but abruptly paused midway before glaring at the thief again. "That's right," he growled, making the thief squeak, "so don't you ever tell anyone of this encounter, or _else_." Kurapika punctuated his sentence by taking one step forward, and thief went tumbling down the steps of his own accord.

"Hey," Kurapika heard someone say at the same time the thief finally used his feet to descend the stairs.

Within a balcony on the opposite building stood Chrollo, leaning forward slightly with his arms folded on the balcony's wall. He reacted to Kurapika's wide-eyed surprise with a casual smile.

"You're doing great," said Chrollo, giving a thumbs-up.

"How long have you been standing there?!"

Chrollo shrugged. "A minute? Maybe two."

"Did Pakunoda follow?" Kurapika inquired.

"Yes, I did," answered Pakunoda as she swiped Kurapika's bag off the steps on the way upstairs, and noticed the bag's strap had become two uneven strips. "Looks like Machi will be fixing this again."

"Thank you," said Kurapika upon receiving his bag. "Um, did you by any chance—"

"Encounter the debris of your cell phone?" Pakunoda interrupted. "Yep."

"Oh," Kurapika uttered glumly.

"But I recovered the SIM card," said Pakunoda while holding a little black chip at Kurapika's eye level, "so you just need to buy a new phone. Here you go." She placed the card on Kurapika's open palm.

"Thank you," Kurapika said again, pocketing the card.

"Shall we resume our journey to Machi?" questioned Chrollo.

"Uh, regarding that..." Kurapika turned to Pakunoda. "Can we take a different route? There's probably more snatch-thieves lurking in that crowded lane."

"A different route?" Pakunoda held her chin in a contemplative manner. "I'm new to this town, so I can't say I know any detours."

"Do you remember the appearance of the place Machi is at?" asked Chrollo. "Specifically, its roof?"

Pakunoda nodded. "Yes. The roof had blue tiles."

Chrollo smiled. "In that case, how about we roof-hop to our destination?"

Kurapika's eyes sparkled. One minute later, he was standing on the railing of the balcony of the building opposite the fire escape while Chrollo awaited him on the roof above with his hands in his pockets.

"This reminds me of our first meeting," Chrollo told Kurapika.

"Me too!" Kurapika cheerfully agreed as he hopped onto the roof's edge. "I chase a snatch-thief into an alley and then find out you were watching me the whole time." He frowned at the knot he made to reconnect his bag strap. "And my bag gets damaged _again_."

"You were a lot more composed this time," Chrollo remarked. "Your eyes turned scarlet, yet you spared the thief."

Kurapika's eyes widened. "Right. That happened," he spoke slowly, as though he had just learned those words. His gaze lowered to his hand, which had taken the SIM card out of his pocket. "I'd known beforehand that as long as the SIM card was intact and retrievable, it's okay if my phone broke, but..."

" _But?_ " Chrollo prompted.

"This is merely speculation," began Kurapika, reestablishing eye contact with Chrollo, "but I think that learning Nen has made the emotional effects of my Scarlet Eyes easier to deal with."

Chrollo blinked. "That's...interesting."

"Yeah, and I'm definitely telling Pairo about this," said Kurapika before walking past Chrollo to Pakunoda's side. "So, where's Machi?" he asked her.

Pakunoda pointed at a flat that was three streets away at an angle diagonal from where she was standing. That flat had blue roof tiles. In about five to seven hops each, the three of them were standing on those blue tiles. They discreetly slipped into the topmost balcony in front of the flat and Pakunoda took the lead until they reached the door nearest to the flat's east staircase.

Pakunoda knocked the door lightly. "Machi," she called out at a level voice, "it's me. Plus Danchou and Kurapika."

The muffled rattle of a shifting door chain sounded. Then, the door itself opened wide, revealing Machi.

"Hi!" Kurapika said cheerily. Beside him, Chrollo curled and uncurled his hand in greeting.

"Hey," Machi mumbled while accepting the paper bag from Pakunoda. She stepped aside to give way to her guests, but only Kurapika entered. "Not coming in?"

"Actually, Paku and I need to talk," said Chrollo to Machi, before gazing down at Kurapika. "Would you like me to buy a new phone in the meantime?"

Kurapika nodded. "Sure, if you don't find it too troublesome."

After the front door closed, Kurapika followed Machi to a coffee table in the middle of the almost barren room. At that table, Machi laid out her lunch—a plastic box containing rice, curry, and tempura.

"When you're done," said Kurapika as he folded his legs under the table, "can you fix my bag again? Plus one more thing?"

"Each item to fix costs three thousand jennies," Machi answered after swallowing.

Kurapika gawked at her. "You fixed for free last time!"

"Last time, Danchou asked me to."

"So, if I ask Chrollo to ask you to fix my stuff, you'd do it for free?"

Machi lowered her spoon. "Who's been paying during your travels for the past week?"

Seconds passed before Kurapika admitted, "Chrollo offers most of the time."

"Then, you can definitely spare six thousand jennies."

"...Yes."

* * *

Chrollo and Pakunoda returned to that citizen-packed road which doubled as a marketplace. They were currently in the foodstuff portion of the market, on their way to the electronics part.

"Hmm, so Pairo looks like Shal except with brown hair and eyes, huh?" said Chrollo.

"And shorter," Pakunoda added. "I wasn't able to learn more about his personality, though."

"That's fine," Chrollo assured her. "I think I've got a rather clear idea of Pairo's character based on Kurapika's phone call with him which I'd eavesdropped."

"Really? What's he like? Other than crafty."

"A threat."

Pakunoda stared quietly at Chrollo for a second. "That's...not a personality."

Chrollo stared back, his expression grim. "He nearly ruined my plans, Paku. He actually convinced Kurapika to leave us, and if I hadn't been listening in, I wouldn't have been able to convince him otherwise. Granted, Kurapika didn't exactly give a glowing review of his time with us, so it's no wonder Pairo had the sense to advise him to escape while he can."

"So, is it Pairo or Kurapika who we should be concerned with?"

"By now, Kurapika has developed a tolerance for our activities, and a bias that prevents him from truly acknowledging our immorality. However, his bias for Pairo is much stronger, that he barely attempted to argue when told to leave us. Although I was able to keep him from leaving, I don't think I've diminished Pairo's influence on Kurapika in the slightest."

"I see," Pakunoda mumbled into her fingers as she held her chin contemplatively. "You know, when I was questioning Kurapika in this street, I never got an answer for whether he'd bring you to his homeland. I wonder, does he dare to introduce you to Pairo?"

* * *

"I don't want to bring Chrollo home with me anymore," Kurapika confessed while shuffling Pairo's medical records back in order.

Machi, who was starting to mend Kurapika's skirt after fixing his bag strap, replied, "You actually wanted to?"

"Yes, as one proof of there being people in the outside world who won't be frightened by our Scarlet Eyes and will treat us like people. I was hoping to use Chrollo to convince our clan to stop living in isolation, but..."

" _Use?_ " Machi mouthed to herself disgustedly.

"...now that I know Pairo doesn't approve of you guys, bringing Chrollo home doesn't sound like a good idea. I mean, he's a _criminal_. You all are!" Kurapika gestured at Machi when saying that. "They probably wouldn't trust Chrollo and might think he has ulterior motives for being nice."

"Talk about ironic," Machi muttered under her breath.

"Hm? What did you say?"

"I said 'talk about _moronic_ '." Machi yanked a thread taut. Suddenly, the tear in the skirt merged seamlessly, all traces of damage skillfully erased. Machi wound the thread around her forefinger and yanked again, causing it to snap. She handed the skirt to Kurapika. "I'm done."

Kurapika paid her before accepting his skirt. "Thank you. Wait, what was so moronic about what I said?"

"Why are you fussing so much when you could just _not_ tell your clan that Danchou's a criminal? Just say he's a traveler or something."

Kurapika looked at his skirt. "I've considered that, just flat-out lying to everyone about Chrollo's true colors." His gaze drifted to Pairo's neatly-stacked medical records. "Except that would mean lying to Pairo too, and that's _impossible_."

"You can't keep _one_ secret from Pairo?"

"I'm _already_ keeping one secret from him! The lying quota has no more room."

"Then, I guess there's no room for Danchou at your home."

"Yeah, there isn't!" Kurapika agreed wholeheartedly at first. One thoughtful second later, he repeated his statement in a more halfhearted tone, "Yeah, there isn't..." and sighed, going silent afterwards.

Machi stayed quiet too, focused on packing up her sewing equipment.

After a few seconds, Kurapika restarted the conversation. "Have you noticed Chrollo's new earrings?"

"You mean those huge blue baubles hanging from his earlobes?"

Kurapika laughed as he nodded. "Yeah, those! I was there when he got them, or technically, _tore_ them off the original owner's ears," he added that last part in a serious tone. "She begged him not to take them but he didn't care, and when I saw him do that, it made me... _wonder_ something."

Silence again, until Machi sighed with her cheek resting on her palm and asked, "Wonder _what?_ "

"If the main reason you guys steal," Kurapika began hesitantly, "is because it gives you a sense of power? Because there are laws and systems set in place to facilitate the exchange of goods, plus the exchange itself must be consensual, when you ignore all those things and just take what you want, do you feel like you're above everything and everyone?"

Machi blinked her stunned, wide eyes at Kurapika once before furrowing her brow and looking away. "God, what is this? A psychoanalysis?" she mumbled into her hand.

Kurapika shrugged. "It's just a question..." He scooted around the table to a spot slightly closer to Machi. "So, am I right?"

Machi did not meet Kurapika's eager gaze. "I can't speak for the other Spiders, but _personally_..."

" _Personally...?_ " Kurapika repeated fascinatedly.

"...I feel _nothing_ when I steal and kill. I don't feel any guilt or exhilaration. I just...don't care. At all."

"Why not? Isn't your job really risky? Don't you feel scared at least?"

Machi finally looked at Kurapika. _Glared,_ actually. "My whole _life_ is risky. Fear at this point is just a waste of energy."

"No, it's not. Fear is necessary for survival," Kurapika responded unflinchingly.

"Only when there's the option of avoiding dangerous things and people." Machi was speaking slightly louder now. "Where I grew up, that option didn't exist. It didn't exist for Danchou and the other Spiders either."

Kurapika had an aghast expression and an incredulous tone. " _Where_ in the world did you guys grow up in?"

"A trash city where nothing and no one mattered to the rest of the world. You need to be smart to survive there. Fear barely helps."

"Huh..." was all Kurapika could utter in the face of Machi's piercing glare and statement, as if he was too busy trying to imagine the 'trash city' Machi mentioned, evidenced by his dazed expression, which he promptly snapped out of when the apartment's door opened.

"Machi," Chrollo called out.

Machi looked behind. "Yes, Danchou?"

Chrollo arrived inside the living room with Pakunoda. "Are you bullying Kurapika?" he asked.

"What?!"

"Your aura was a little prickly," Pakunoda elaborated.

"It's because I had to answer some annoying questions," grumbled Machi.

Chrollo gazed questioningly at Kurapika. The latter did not return his gaze, a bit busy keeping his mended skirt and Pairo's medical records inside his fixed sling bag. When he was finished, Kurapika got up from the coffee table with his bag and ambled towards Chrollo.

"Have you bought my new phone?" asked Kurapika.

Chrollo nodded. "Yup. Here you go." He fished a beetle-shaped phone out of his pocket and put it in Kurapika's hand. "I've already adjusted the time zone."

"Really? Thank—" Kurapika's eyes bugged out mid-speech when he saw the time on his new phone's screen. "It's _this_ late already?!" He looked up at Chrollo again. "We have to go! We only booked the animal pen for until three!"

After exchanging some quick goodbyes, the door closed, and only Machi and Pakunoda remained in the apartment.

"So," began Pakunoda, seating herself at the side of the table opposite of Machi, "what were you and Kurapika talking about that got your aura so prickly?"

Machi furrowed her brow and looked away. "He got me talking about Meteor City."

"And you didn't like that?"

"If he didn't preface with _that_ question, maybe I wouldn't've gotten so annoyed."

"What question was that?"

Machi laid her hand on the table. "Too annoying to explain. Just read my mind."

Pakunoda smiled, touched Machi's offered hand, and asked, "What question did Kurapika ask you?" A pause, lasting one blink. "Hmm. If I was here earlier, I'd tell him he's right."

Machi's eyes widened. "You feel that way?"

"Actually, I feel the same as you," Pakunoda clarified, "but I know some of the Spiders would agree with Kurapika. What else did you two talk about?" Her eyes narrowed. "Huh. So, he _doesn't_ dare to, yet he stuck to Danchou? That's pretty daring in its own way."

"More like _stupid_ ," Machi huffed. "If he knows Danchou is dangerous, he shouldn't keep sticking, but he's so damn naïve. He's gonna suffer for sure."

"You sound worried for Kurapika."

Machi retracted her hand and glared at Pakunoda, whose smile had flattened into a grimmer expression.

"Well, I also have some bad feelings about Danchou's plan," Pakunoda admitted. "Since he wants to make Kurapika a Spider—and I _know_ he'll succeed—I've started to view Kurapika as one of us, but that means I'm currently lying and manipulating a fellow Leg. I've been thinking of how I could make up for that when Kurapika becomes a Spider for real."

Machi's glare softened. "I don't want him to be a Spider _period_ ," she said so quietly, she was basically mouthing the words.

Pakunoda had heard her. She chose to act like she had not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to add one more scene at the end with Kurapika and Chrollo leaving the town on Piko. Chrollo would ask about the weird question Kurapika asked Machi, but Kurapika wouldn't tell him because they'd be together for a while, unlike Machi who Kurapika knew he would be leaving soon, and he's aware that his question is very weird.
> 
> The reason I'm not adding is because I want to finish writing this chapter already and I can bring up at question in later chapters.


End file.
